West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday gave an appointment letter for the job of a home guard and Rs 10 lakh as financial compensation to the wife of Havildar Jhantu Ali Sheikh who was killed in an Army operation against terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur area soon after the Pahalgam massacre last month.

Sheikh, who hailed from Krishnanagar in Nadia district, is survived by his wife Shehnaj Parveen, a six-year-old son and a younger daughter.

Banerjee, who shared the dais with the slain Armyman’s family during a meeting in the Suti area in the wake of communal violence in Murshidabad, expressed her solidarity with them, saying the state government would keep supporting them in the future as well.

Banerjee said the state government has also taken the responsibility of educating Sheikh’s children.

The CM, who handed over a cheque of Rs 10 lakh to Sheikh’s wife Shehnaj, said, “I salute him (Sheikh) as he is our pride. We will always support and stand by the family. She (Shehnaj Parveen) will be working as a home guard in Krishnanagar police district. We have taken the responsibility for the education of the couple’s children. As a member of the family, I will always stand with them.”

Expressing her gratitude, Parveen said, “I thank the CM for standing by our side.”

Jhantu’s brother Rafikul Sheikh, posted as a subedar in the Army who had performed the funeral rites, had appealed for making arrangements for his wife and children.

Earlier, the Chief Minister visited the block development officer’s (BDO) office to distribute financial assistance to the families affected by communal violence and held a closed-door meeting with Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, Director General of Police Rajiv Kumar and Murshidabad District Magistrate Rajarshi Mitra. She claimed to have met 400 victims at the BDO office.

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