Police inspector Masroor Ali Wani's passion for cricket, and his bravery in trying to showcase the improved security situation his bosses claimed, has cost him his life.

Wani had on October 29 taken time off to play cricket with some of his colleagues and friends on Srinagar's Eidgah ground, a formidable separatist arena of yesteryear, to help build public confidence.

Shot at point-blank range by a lone militant, he died on Thursday after a 39-day fight for his life in hospital, leaving behind a wife who is expecting their first child, his father and a brother. He was in his early 30s, officers said.

Police and politicians paid glowing tributes to the officer, who sources said had died at AIIMS Delhi, a day after he was flown to the capital for advanced treatment.

New Jammu and Kashmir police chief R.R. Swain said that Wani's "tragic sacrifice reminds us of the immense challenges our personnel encounter daily, even in moments of leisure".

"The cowardly attack on a policeman enjoying a moment of leisure is a stark reminder of the vicious mindset perpetuated by terrorist networks operating at the behest of Pakistan," DGP Swain added.

"This tragic incident strengthens our resolve at the J&K police to redouble our efforts in combating terrorism."

The brazen militant attack on Wani had raised questions about the government's claims of normalcy.

A lone militant, allegedly from the Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Toiba, had walked up to Wani on the Eidgah ground, where hundreds were playing cricket, and shot him multiple times. The attacker then escaped, firing in the air to prevent capture by Wani's colleagues. He remains at large.

Security has been heavily beefed up around the ground since then. Young people are frequently frisked before entering the sprawling ground, which also houses Kashmir's biggest "martyrs' graveyard” where civilians and militants killed in firing by the security forces are buried.

Local people said the police had seized dozens of phones — on which calls had been made shortly after the firing — from young men who were at the ground during the attack on Wani. "Some of the phones remained with them (the police) for days," a resident said.

Officers said Wani had been hit in the abdomen, neck and eye. "There seemed little chance of his recovery, initially, but as the days passed it appeared as though he might survive. But sadly, we have lost him," an officer said.

The government had provided Wani with the best medical treatment available anywhere in the country, officers said.

The attack on Wani came at a time when the then police chief, Dilbagh Singh, was tom-tomming how Kashmir was "coming out of the dark era of terrorism" and how "the graph of terrorism has come down and flattened".

"We brought peace to Jammu and Kashmir, pulling it out of the jaws of terrorism and bloodshed during my tenure," Singh had said two days before the attack on Wani.

A day after the attack, Singh had cautioned policemen, saying: "We have to be cautious. Threats are still around us, and we cannot take our lives so lightly. We have to be careful."