Altaf Ahmad Shah, a senior separatist leader from Kashmir, has died at the All-India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi, on Monday night, according to his family members. “Abu breathed his last at AIIMS, New Delhi. As a prisoner,” Shah’s daughter Ruwa Shah said, in a tweet.
Mr. Shah is son-in-law of late Hurriyat chairman Geelani, who died in 2021 while he was under house arrest. Mr. Shah was considered a close aide of Geelani. In the past, Shah was a vociferous voice within the Hurriyat advocating dialogue and engagement with stakeholders on the Kashmir issue.
Shah, 66, was being held in the high-security Tihar prison in New Delhi for the past five years. He was arrested by NIA on 24.07.2017 in a terror funding case and has been in Judicial Custody since then. He was suffering from diabetes, hypertension and Dyslipidemia at the time of his arrest.
It is learnt that on 16.09.2022, Mr. Shah was admitted to Deen Dayal Uphadhyay Hospital, New Delhi and medical examination revealed that he had developed Rt Pleural effusion, along with Lt Hydroureteronephrosis. Accordingly, he was referred to RML Hospital for urology opinion and further management on 17.09.2022. He was admitted in RML Hospital on 24.09.2022 through emergency referral from Central Jail Hospital, Tihar, New Delhi. Diagnosis revealed Sepsis with Left mild Hydroureteronephrosis, Urosepsis, severe Anaemia, Bilateral Pleural Effusion and Acute Kidney Injury, along with co-morbidities Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus with Hypertension. He was hospitalised in the ICU of RML hospital, New Delhi under the supervision of specialists from Critical care, Nephrology, Urology and Endocrinology departments.
While undergoing treatment, he was diagnosed with renal cancer of advanced stage and he had to be provided with critical support. He was shifted to the institutional care of AIIMS, New Delhi. Due to the advanced stage of cancer, he passed away at around 2200 hrs on 10.10.2022.
