Maisuma death a crime of passion: Police

The death of a college boy in Maisuma had sparked off allegations of another custodial killing in the Kashmir Valley. Protests had erupted then.

On Wednesday the Police say they've cracked the case and it was what they claimed all along, a murder. They also claim it's the first of its kind in the Valley because it involved a social networking site.

Public anger against security forces in Kashmir has been common in the past month or so. But on Wednesday when police cracked the murder of a college student, the mood was strikingly different.

Police claim, 20-year-old Asrar was killed by two of his close friends after a girl on Orkut deleted one of them from her friend list and became friendly with Asrar, though none of them ever met the girl.

"It's a crime of passion with a difference, I think this is first case of its kind which happened because of social networking," said S A Mujtaba, SSP, Srinagar.

After Asrar's body was found last week protesters went on the rampage targeting the police, destroying public property over allegations of custodial death.

Police who have all along denied the charge say the initial public reaction isn't surprising.

"If there is delay in arrest of the culprit of a murder case, similar allegations are made and no cooperation is given by the people and sometime by the family, that's the reason whole blame is put on law enforcement agency," S A Mujtaba further said.

"A friend has killed his friend, we have to introspect what we are doing. We are only blaming the government," said victim's father.

Police have so far not identified the girl in question; they say she has been changing her IDs on sites like Orkut and Facebook too often.