Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) Monday revealed that 20 people involved in the lynching of a police officer to death have been arrested and many of them were coming out of Jamia Masjid to welcome Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
The state police also said that if need arises; Mirwaiz too can be quizzed as the case hasn’t been closed as yet.
According to KNS correspondent, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Range, Munir Ahmad Khan while addressing a presser here at Police control room (PCR) Srinagar, said, “20 people involved in the lynching of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) officer to death have been arrested.”
Pertinently, a senior cop, Muhammad Ayoub Pandit was lynched by a mob on Sahb-e-Qadr outside the historic Jamia Masjid here after he opened fire on a group of people who caught him clicking pictures near a mosque in Nowhatta area of Srinagar.
IGP who was also flanked by DIG central Kashmir range, Gh Hassan Bhat and SSP Srinagar Imtiyaz Parray, said that the investigation in the case is still ongoing while there will be more arrests likely into the case.
He said that during the preliminary investigations, police arrested the three people who were hit by the bullets of Pandith and during the custodial investigations, “they led us to some vital conclusions and consequently we arrested 20 more people involved in the case.”
IGP said that the youth who lynched a cop to death were coming out of Jamia Masjid to welcome Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
Khan according to KNS correspondent informed that the slain Hizb militant, Sajad Ahmad Gilkar was one of the accused in the DySP’s lynching case.
Notably, Gilkar was killed in an encounter that raged between forces and militants in Beerwah area of Central Kashmir’s Budgam district on July 11, this year.
IGP said that the investigation done so far has revealed that the people accused in the lynching case came out of the Jamia after offering eight Rakaats of Taraweeh. “They were raising Zakir Musa slogans and were going to welcome Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.”
He said that while Pandith was coordinating with his men, a group of people countered him and asked him to prove his identity, which he resisted to. “They later started heckling him. The DySP in self-defence fired a few shots below the waist line,” Khan added.
He said that scores of things including an iron rod, which was used during his lynching, Pandith’s Cell Phone, Pistol and Identity Card were recovered during the investigation.
Khan further said that there was noise around, huge rush and it was dark and nobody knew who the guy was. “The identification of a senior cop was ascertained in the wee hours of the morning,” he said, adding that the people voluntarily including civil society members came forward and helped us in the investigations.
While appreciating the cooperation of general public, he said that they led us to the right conclusions and investigation.
Referring to a query, IGP said “in case the need arises, Mirwaiz too can be quizzed in this regard.” (KNS)
