Who was Ayub Pandit: DSP lynched by the same people he protected

The DSP was posted at the access control of the mosque to prevent miscreants from vitiating the atmosphere so that people can offer prayers in peace.

SRINAGAR: Mohammad Ayub Pandit, a deputy superintendent of police, was stripped naked and stoned to death by an irate mob after he allegedly opened fire at a group of people, who caught him clicking pictures near a mosque in downtown area in the early hours today.

• The slain officer belonged to Khanyar area in Srinagar's Old City. Khanyar is adjacent to the Jamia Masjid where he was killed.
• Pandit was posted in the security wing of the police and deployed for frisking visitors to the mosque to ensure nobody entered it with weapons.
• As part of rules, policemen posted in the security wing do not wear uniform.
• When hundreds were busy in prayers during the holiest night of the Muslim calendar called 'Shab-e-Qadr' at the city's largest mosque, a group of miscreants attacked Pandit who was not in uniform.
• The outnumbered officer tried to free himself and fired in self-defence, injuring three of the attackers. But he was overpowered and lynched.
• One report said he had been stripped before he was murdered. He had been outside the mosque for some time and many locals who regularly visited the shrine knew him.
• The DSP was posted at the access control of the mosque to prevent miscreants from vitiating the atmosphere so that people can offer prayers in peace.
• Director general of police SP Vaid told the Hindustan Times, "When he came out after checking access control in the area, he was surrounded by some miscreants who started manhandling him and asking for his identification. Initial investigation revealed that there was an altercation and the officer fired to get away from the mob. He was, however, overpowered and killed near Bata Chowk in Nowhatta area."
• DSP Ayub Pandit was an M. Com and an LLB. He had joined the police force in 1990 and served as an SHO for a long time before becoming a DSP.
• He is survived by his wife, a 28-year-old son and a 22-year-old daughter.
• The death of the officer, who was not deployed in anti-militancy or intelligence gathering, has shocked the Jammu and Kashmir Police.