JOIN USJ&K Police form SIT to probe lynching
The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the lynching of DySP (Security) Mohammad Ayoub Pandith here on Thursday night.
Three more suspects were held on Saturday, taking the total number of arrests to five.
Kashmir IGP Muneer Khan confirmed that the SIT, headed by DIG of Central Kashmir Ghulam Hassan Bhat, will investigate the case on a fast-track basis.
The lynching incident near the historic Jamia Masjid in the Old City area of Nowhatta triggered outrage across the Valley and drew all-round condemnation.
As the police vowed to track down all the suspects, the family members of one of the arrested youth, Danish Mir, protested in Srinagar, demanding his immediate release. They claimed Mir was struck by a bullet on his leg before the police officer was lynched.
“How can an injured person lynch anyone? He was in hospital... almost dead when the incident took place,” Mir’s mother said.
“The police arrived at the hospital and said they would take Mir into preventive custody... we were not even allowed to meet him,” she said.
Meanwhile, authorities shunted out North Srinagar SP Sajad Khalid Bhat, who was asked to report to the police headquarters until further orders.
Nowhatta, where Pandith was lynched, falls under Bhat’s jurisdiction. According to an order issued by the police headquarters, Additional SP (Traffic City), Srinagar, Sajad Shah will look after the duties of the North -Srinagar SP until further orders.
Pak forces violate ceasefire in Poonch
Pakistani forces violated ceasefire by firing from automatic weapons and shelling mortars along the LoC in Poonch district on Saturday, PTI reports from Jammu.
The violation comes just days after an attack by a Pakistani special forces team that sneaked across the LoC into Poonch under heavy fire-cover and killed two soldiers, while losing one of their men.
On June 16, Pakistan violated the ceasefire by firing on forward posts along the LoC in Naushera sector of Rajouri district, killing an Indian Army trooper. There have been 19 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the International Border in the Jammu region in June, in which one civilian was killed and seven wounded.