Summary Mufti Sayeed was suffering from multiple health problems.
SRINAGAR (Web Desk / AFP) -- Indian-occupied Kashmir‘s Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away Thursday morning after a brief illness, at India‘s premier hospital - All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, officials said.
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 with complaints of fever and neck pain on December 24 after which the doctors diagnosed him to have sepsis, decreased blood counts and pneumonia.
He was in the Intensive Care Unit and during hospitalisation his platelets had dropped dangerously low. For the past few days, the Chief Minister was on a ventilator.
Sayeed founded the People‘s Democratic Party (PDP) and led a coalition government with Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s BJP in Kashmir.
The veteran leader took over as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir state for the second time last March, after serving in the same role between 2002 and 2005.
He was appointed India‘s first Muslim home minister in 1989, and later the same year another of his daughters was kidnapped by the militants. She was later released in exchange for five jailed rebels.
"Mufti Sahab‘s demise leaves a huge void in the nation & in J&K, where his exemplary leadership had a major impact on people s lives. RIP," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, using an honorific denoting respect.
Sayeed‘s PDP controversially went into coalition in the restive Himalayan region with Modi‘s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party after state elections last year.
