DSP lynching: 12 accused sent to judicial custody

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 20

The police today produced 12 accused in the DSP lynching case before the court of Sub-Registrar, Srinagar, which remanded them in judicial custody till August 2.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohammed Ayub Pandith was stripped and lynched by a mob outside Jamia Masjid in the Nowhatta area of old Srinagar on June 22, triggering an outrage in Kashmir.

Earlier on July 7, Kashmir IGP Muneer Khan had said the police had cracked the case by arresting “three or four” persons.

However, as 12 accused were produced today before the court, the police showed the date of arrest of the most of the accused as July 17 and requested for their police remand for further investigation.

“Most of the persons have been arrested before July 17, but were shown arrested on this particular date. We vehemently resisted the police custody of the accused,” said advocate Ajaz A Dar, who represented many of the accused before the court.

On July 12, the police also claimed that Hizbul Mujahideen militant Sajid Ahmad Gilkar, who was killed in an encounter in Budgam, had played a key role in the lynching.

“Gilkar played a key role in the lynching of DSP Mohammad Ayub Pandith of the security wing,” a police spokesman had said. Gilkar went underground and joined the Hizbul Mujahideen after the lynching incident, he said.

The police, which has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT), has recovered the belongings (of the DSP), such as the identity card and the pistol.