A salute and a kiss: Tearful adieu to Inspector Wani

Loud wails rent the air at the Police Lines area in Srinagar as soon as the tricolour-draped coffin of Inspector Masroor Ahmad Wani was brought for a wreath laying ceremony.

"You always wanted to become a police officer," said a teary-eyed Wani's sister who was amid the family and colleagues gathered here to bid the final goodbye to the cop who was killed in a terror attack.

Additional Director General of Police, Armed, S J M Gillani, Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order, J-K, Vijay Kumar, and Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, V K Birdi, laid floral wreaths on Wani's coffin.

Wani's wife was expecting their first child when her husband fell to the bullets of terrorists. She stood numb amidst the commotion.

Wani's younger brother broke down in front of Wani's coffin.

He bowed to him and then raised his right hand for one final salute.

After his father and other relatives, Wani's frail looking old mother took the photograph of her son which was placed in front of the coffin and kissed it many times.

"I want to kiss my son one more time," she said every time she kissed the photograph.

Wani's wife folded her hands before the coffin as if seeking forgiveness, and then took the photograph of Wani, in uniform, and kissed it a number of times.

"The whole J-K Police parivar stands together in paying tribute to our martyr colleague," ADGP Vijay Kumar told reporters at the ceremony.

Wani was later buried at the family's ancestral graveyard in Narwara locality of Srinagar.

A large number of people participated in the funeral prayers held for the dead officer.

Scores of people, including former J-K chief minister Omar Abdullah, thronged his residence to offer their condolences.

Wani was shot by terrorists on October 29 when he was engaged in a cricket match with local boys at Eidgah grounds in downtown Srinagar.

He succumbed at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi on Thursday.