Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government has appointed two Special Public Prosecutors to conduct the case involving alleged lynching of Deputy SP Ayub Pandith at the premises of Jamia Masjid here last year.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by Sub-Section (1) of section 492 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Samvat 1989, the Government hereby appoint Aijaz Ahmad Wani, CPO and Riyaz Ahmad Sr. PO Saddar Court Srinagar as Special Public Prosecutors to conduct the case FIR No. 51/2017 P/S Nowhatta involving offences punishable under section 302,148,392,341 RPC 13 ULA(P) Act pending adjudication before the court of 4th Additional Sessions Judge Srinagar,” reads an SRO issued here by the state’s law department on February 27. Police has filed charge sheet against 24 accused including a young militant Sajad Ahmad Gilkar who was killed in an encounter with government forces on June 12 last year.
According to a police, 23 accused have been arrested and three of them include juveniles who are present at large on bail. “One of the accused, Sajad Ahmad Gilkar, was killed in an encounter in Radbugh village of Budgam on July 12, 2017. His name has been mentioned in the charge-sheet,” he said.
All the accused have been charged under sections 302, 148, 149, 341 RPC and 13 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The police had said that Pandith was in Jamia Masjid to protect locals and Hurriyat Conference chairman Molvi Umar Farooq at the time of incident.
Giving the sequence of events, then IGP Munir Ahmad Khan had said that a group of youths raising pro-Zakir Musa slogans outside Jamia Masjid on Shab-e-Qadr night started beating Pandith after he refused to reveal his identity.
On the basis of disclosures made by the accused, important evidence including the weapon of the offence (Iron rod), identity card, service pistol (in damaged condition) and the cellphone of the deceased officer were recovered. “It was encouraging to see a good response from the public and witnesses who voluntarily came forward to provide valuable information on the incident,” he had said.
