[5] His grandfather, Colonel Peer Mohammad, was the first state president of the Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

[6] As part of Hari Singh's Dogra army, Colonel Peer Mohammad also had a major role in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948.

The concept was of "involving the passive Jammu and Kashmir Police in anti-terrorist activities and giving a local face to these operations".

[10] The first time the STF tasted success was in a joint operation with the 26 Punjab Regiment in which three Al-Fatah militants were killed in October 1994.

[10] In 1995, the STF had only one Srinagar based unit headed by Farooq Khan but the concept was soon expanded following its "spectacular successes" in the valley.

[12] Under Farooq Khan's STF, with the support of other security agencies including the Army, the counter-insurgent pro-government militia Ikhwanul Muslimoon (Ikhwan),[a] started by Kuka Parray, was strengthened and together they killed more than 2000 militants.

[15][16] When Farooq Khan was a Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Anantnag, he was suspended for two years in 2003 for his alleged role in Pathribal fake encounter on 25 March 2000.

In 2006 the CBI filed its chargesheet holding seven soldiers of Rashtriya Rifles 7th battalion responsible for the Pathribal fake encounter.

[17][18] Khan had also approached the Central Administrative Tribunal as well as the Jammu and Kashmir High Court for justice, after which the Ministry of Home Affairs cleared his name.

[1] Khan joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on 26 March 2014, before the 2014 Indian general elections, during a political rally in Hiranagar, Kathua district in the presence of Narendra Modi.

[26] The foundation stone of the "world’s first ever Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) Powered Desalination Project" was laid in Kavaratti by Union Minister Harsh Vardhan in the presence of Farooq Khan.

[27] On 13 July 2019, Farooq Khan was appointed as the fifth advisor to the then Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satya Pal Malik.

[28][29] Farooq Khan was the first advisor to Governor Satya Pal Malik to request withdrawal of his security convoy.