NC protests against custodial death of teacher

Srinagar, March 21

The National Conference (NC) on Thursday took out a protest march here against the death of a teacher in police custody.

Scores of NC activists, led by party general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar, assembled at the party’s headquarters ‘Nawai-Subah’ here and took out the protest march.

The activists shouted slogans and demanded stern punishment for those responsible for the death of 29-year-old Rizwan Asad Pandit.

The protestors tried to march towards Lal Chowk at the city’s centre, but were stopped by a large contingent of police personnel near the TRC crossing.

Speaking to reporters, the party’s provincial president, Kashmir, Nasir Aslam Wani, said the NC demands a time-bound probe into the incident.

“We are back to the 1900s unfortunately. We are seeing a cycle of violence and death everyday now. We demand a time-bound inquiry into it and action against those responsible for the death of the teacher,” Wani said.

Pandit died in police custody days after he was picked up from his home in Awantipora in the state’s Pulwama district.

The government has said that a magisterial inquiry is being conducted by the district authorities in Pulwama.

Pandit’s family has claimed that there were torture marks all over the body of the deceased.

Showing photographs, on a mobile phone, of Pandit’s body at a press conference in Awantipora, his brother, Mubashir, said the family wants exhumation of the body to show those torture marks.

“We will fight this. We will go through the legal process. We are not fighting with guns or bullets or stones, we will fight with them legally. We will take the legal course and bring justice to my little brother who has been tortured under their custody.

“We demand exhumation of the body, we will bear it, but we will show there are torture marks all over his body,” Pandit’s brother said. — PTI