Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Jammu and Kashmir CM, dies at 79

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed died, days after being admitted to the AIIMS following fever and respiratory problems.

New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed died on Thursday morning due to multiple organ failure.

Sayeed was at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) where he was admitted for the past 15 days.

The Chief Minister breathed his last around 7.30 am, Education Minister and spokesman for Government Nayeem Akhter said here.

Sayeed, 79, is survived by his wife, three daughters, including PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, and a son.

The mortal remains of the Chief Minister would be flown to Srinagar where the body will be kept for people to have the last glimpse of their leader. He is likely be buried in his ancestral village in South Kashmir.

Sayeed was admitted at AIIMS on December 24 with complaints of fever and neck pain. Doctors at AIIMS had diagnosed him to have sepsis, decreased blood counts and pneumonia.

He was in the Intensive Care Unit of AIIMS and during hospitalisation his platelets had dropped dangerously low. For the past few days, the Chief Minister was on a ventilator.

Sayeed took over as chief minister of PDP-BJP coalition on March 1 last year.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh met the family of Sayeed in hospital.

The veteran Kashmiri politician was born on January 12, 1936.

(With PTI inputs)