Teacher dies in custody, Valley tense

Samaan Lateef, Majid Jahangir & Suhail A Shah

Tribune News Service

Awantipora, March 19

School principal and son of a Jamaat-e-Islami member, who was picked up from his house on Sunday night, was allegedly killed in police custody. The death of Rizwan Asad, 28, of Awantipora in Pulwama district,  triggered protests across the Valley today even as the government ordered a magisterial probe. 

Kashmiri separatists’ group “Joint Resistance Leadership” has called for a shutdown tomorrow against the “killing” to be followed by protests in the next two days. The development comes at a time when the Election Commission has announced poll dates for the Lok Sabha elections. A three-member team of observers had only recently toured the state to assess the situation for the Assembly polls.

The J&K Police claimed Rizwan was a suspect in a terror case who died while in custody. But Rizwan’s family called it custodial killing. “It’s a cold-blooded, planned murder,” alleged his younger brother Mubashir.

“The police raided our house on Sunday at 11.30 pm. They locked my family members in a room. After a 45-minute search, they took away Rizwan. The raiding party comprised policemen from the local police station, barely 50 metres from our house.

“To ascertain Rizwan's whereabouts, we visited the police station the following day. We were told he had been shifted to the counter-insurgency unit headquarters in Srinagar. We later learnt of his death on the social media,” he said. Angry locals, including students, who assembled at Rizwan’s house, raised slogans as well as hurled stones at security personnel. Educational institutions in the area were shut and entry points to Awantipora sealed. “He died in police custody. As per the procedure laid down in CrPC Section 176, a magisterial inquiry is underway,” a police spokesman in Srinagar said. 

Rizwan, a postgraduate in chemistry and principal of a private School in Awantipora, was a popular figure. He set up relief and medical camps during the 2014 floods. He was booked under the Public Safety Act in September 2018 for alleged involvement in unlawful activities. However, the court on November 30 ordered his release. Rizwan’s father Muhammad Assadullah retired as an officer with the Centre-run Handicrafts Department. He is now a member of the banned Jamat-e-Islami.

Earlier in the day, the NIA rubbished reports that it had detained Rizwan for questioning. “He was neither called for questioning, nor was he examined with cases being investigated by us,” NIA spokesperson Alok Mittal said.