J&K teacher detained in connection with a militancy-related case, dies in police custody

AWANTIPORA: A 28-year-old private school principal, who was detained in connection with a militancy related case, was killed in police custody, triggering protests at his town in J&K’s Pulwamam district on Tuesday.

Rizwan Asad was detained on Sunday night. His family alleged that it was a planned murder and sought capital punishment for the officials involved in the killing of their son.

Rizwan, a postgraduate in chemistry was the principal of Sabir Abdullah Public School and also ran the coaching centre Elite Tutorials in Awantipora. According to his family, Rizwan was killed on his birthday on March 18. His father, Assadullah Pandit, a retired central government official, is a member of Jama’at-e-Islami, which was banned recently.


Joint Hurriyat leadership accused National Investigation Agency and Special Operations Group of J&K police of murdering Rizwan in custody and called for a complete shurtdown on March 20. The NIA has clarified that Rizwan was neither called for questioning nor was he examined at any other location in connection with cases the agency is investigating. J&K police accepted that he died in their custody and a magisterial inquiry is underway. “How can he die in custody? It is a planned murder. The officers who are involved in this should also be killed,” Mubashir Asad, brother of Rizwan, told ET.

Mubashir is also a teacher in a private school and has post graduate in Biochemistry. Rizwan was detained under Public Safety Act last year, which was quashed by the court and he was released later.

“We are humans and not animals. The officers should know that they cannot get away with impunity, which is a routine here,” said Mubashir. The family members informed that police party raided their house on Sunday night around 11:30pm and the search continued till 12:15am. “They took him along with our two laptops, five mobile phones and threatened to kill him in front of the family, if we raise any hue and cry,” said Mubashir.

The family came to know about the ‘custodial killing’ on Tuesday morning, when nearby Islamic University of Science and Technology announced unscheduled holiday for students and didn’t allow its transport to move out of the campus in the morning, which otherwise is a routine.

“The universities decision alerted us. We were told that some local boy has been killed. We immediately contacted police and were told that Rizwan has succumbed in custody. He was tortured to death,” said Pandit Junaid, cousin of Rizwan, who works at IUST. Hundreds of mourners had gathered at the house of Rizwan, few meters way from Awantipora police station. The youngsters were protesting on the main road and police and paramilitary forces were firing tear smoke shells and pellets to disperse the crowd. The family refused to take the body from Police Control Room saying that those who took Rizwan from the house should also bring him back in his home. The standoff continued till late Tuesday evening. Several students from Rizwan’s school were also present in his house.

“He was a brilliant teacher and changed the whole outlook of the school since he took over,” said Farman Shabir, a 10th grade student at SAP school.