Srinagar

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday had strong words for Kashmiris: “This is not how you respond to restraint on the part of the police.”

The CM was speaking at the wreath laying ceremony of the DySP Muhammad Ayuob who was beaten to death at Jamia Masjid in Srinagar after people objected to him clicking pictures and he responded by firing at them injuring 3.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti lays a wreath on the coffin of slain Mohammad Ayoub Pandit a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Srinagar on Friday June 23, 2017. Pandit was allegedly beaten by angry people to death outside Srinagar’s grand mosque after he allegedly opened fire at a group of people, who caught him clicking pictures. KL Image/Bilal Bhadur

The CM then warned that incidents like this don’t bode well for the security situation in Kashmir. She also warned the people against testing the patience of the forces.

“If this is the result of their restraint it’s going to be very difficult. For how long can this go on? I want to tell people, if this goes on, things may well go back to how they were, when people would run just upon seeing a (police) jeep on the road,” Mehbooba said, according to ANI.

“What could be more shameful than this episode…He (Pandith) was there to protect the life of the people…Police are exercising maximum restraint, people must understand,” Mehbooba said. “There’s still time for people (to change their behaviour), I want to tell them that,” she said.

Mehbooba earlier laid a wreath at Pandith’s casket at the district police lines.

Early on Friday morning, deputy superintendent of police Mohammed Ayub Pandith was beaten to death by some people in Srinagar after he shot at a group of people who caught him taking photographs outside Jamia Masjid.

Police sources according to Times of India said that Pandith was seen taking pictures of people coming out of Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area around 3 am on Friday. They said that when people tried to catch Pandith and stop him from taking photos, he allegedly fired several shots from his pistol, injuring three people.

Soon after, reportedly a group of young men began to beat the police officer. That group then quickly swelled into an irate mob that stripped the officer before killing him by hitting him with stones.

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