Arrested in terror case, Kashmiri school teacher dies in custody, Omar demands exemplary punishment

A school teacher, who was arrested in connection with a terror case, has died in a police custody. Rizwan Pandit, 28, a resident of Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, died during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, a police officer said. here, prompting the department to request for a magisterial inquiry, officials said on Tuesday.

Pandit, who was a teacher at a private school, was picked up by the security agencies three days ago in connection with a terror case, the officer said.

The police department has requested a magisterial inquiry under Section 176 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to ascertain the cause and circumstances leading to Pandit’s death, the officer said, adding that further details were awaited.   

I had hoped custodial deaths were a thing of our dark past. This is an unacceptable development & must be investigated in a transparent, time bound manner. Exemplary punishment must be handed out to the killers of this young man. https://t.co/Jj9RzsFu7r

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 19, 2019