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Mob lynches Cop outside Mosque; 2 arrested; Mufti warns against abusing ‘restraint shown by police’

"He was carrying out his duties as usual when the miscreants attacked him."

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pandith, mohammed ayub pandith, srinagar, mob lynched, jamia masjid, Nowhatta

An officer of the Jammu and Kashmir police was brutally beaten to death by a mob of more than 200 people outside the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar while congregational prayers were on at the mosque in the old city. Two people have been arrested on Friday.

When hundreds were busy in prayers during the holiest night of the Muslim calendar called the `Shab-e-Qadr` at the largest city mosque, a group of miscreants attacked Pandith at his post.

DGP SP Vaid termed the killing as sad and unfortunate.

“The official was killed by the mob while he was performing his duties. It’s a very sad and unfortunate incident,” the DGP said.

DSP Pandith, the police said, may have opened fire as a last resort in self-defence. Three people who were injured were all shot in the legs, which showed that even under attack, the officer was conscious not to shoot to kill, they said. The DSP’s service revolver is missing.

Pandit’s body was taken to police control room for identification and other legal procedures, they said adding the situation in old city has turned tense following the incident.

Since the officer was not in uniform, he was identified only hours later when his family called his mobile phone. It is unclear if he was accompanied by any other policemen. His juniors are being questioned on where they were when DSP Pandith was attacked.

Anger and disbelief was high among the near and dear of Pandith. “What state we have reached that we kill a person outside a mosque on an auspicious night without any reason? Is this what the religion has taught us?” asked a close relative of Pandith at their home in old city Nowpora.

“Is this the azadi (freedom) we are fighting for that we have started lynching people? What shall we do with such Azadi?” she asked.

People were perplexed at the manner he was killed.

“He was not killed by a militant or some military men. He was killed by a mob. They killed an innocent, a Tahjud Guzar (one who prays during the nights),” said one of the sisters-in-law of the slain officer.

Reports said Pandit’s security guards ran away after they found the mob too large to be handle.

He had been at the mosque post for quite some time and many locals who regularly visited knew him.

J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had strong words for Kashmiris: “This is not how you respond to restraint on the part of the police.”

She warned the people of the state against testing the patience of the security forces. “If this is the result of their restraint it’s going to be very difficult. For how long can this go on? I want to tell people, if this goes on, things may well go back to how they were, when people would run just upon seeing a (police) jeep on the road,” Mehbooba said.

Even, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi said the lynching of a senior police officer marked a “new low” in Jammu and Kashmir and it was “heart-breaking” to see the state “being pushed back several decades” due to the failure of the BJP-PDP government.

“The brutal lynching of Deputy SP Md Ayub Pandit marks a new low. Pained beyond words at the horrific incident,” said Gandhi on his official Twitter account.


Source: Agencies

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