Sopore:
Two policemen were arrested for their alleged role in custodial killing of 28-year-old Nazim Rashid. Rashid, 28, had died in a police camp in Sopore, in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, hours after the police picked him up, to question him about his alleged role in the killing of a civilian.
Mr Rashid's death led to clashes in Krankshan Colony - where his parents live - after news broke out that the police were reluctant to hand over his body. The police maintained they were waiting to carry out the post-mortem. The body was subsequently been handed over to the family.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had declared the death as both ''inexcusable,'' a ''human rights violation'' and has sought a probe into the matter. Nasir Aslam Wani, Minister of State, Home, in Jammu and Kashmir, said the two police personnel under whose custody he (Rashid) was kept would suspended.
Rashid's death became a political issue with People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti insisted on visiting Sopore. High drama followed when the police prevented her by locking the main gate of her official residence.
"After the recent killing of three people in Anantnag, the Chief Minister is on record to have said that it was cold blooded murder and the culprits will be punished. You know and I know, no one was punished," Ms Mufti had told reporters.
The killing of Mr Rashid has shattered the fragile peace in Sopore, with the opposition and separatist groups pointing accusatory fingers at the government. Will the arrest of the two policemen bring back peace to Sopore? It remains to be seen.