New Delhi: A deputy superintendent of Jammu & Kashmir Police was stoned to death by an irate outside Jamia Masjid, Srinagar in the early hours on Friday. The is the second killing of J&K police personnel during the ongoing month of Ramzan.

The police officer Mohammad AyubPandit, deputy superintendent in Security wing of police,was on duty when the mob attacked him, a police spokesman said. DGP S P Vaid termed the killing as sad and unfortunate.

Reports said the group of people caught hold the DySP in civvies outside Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta and thrashed him. Reports said the mob around him snatched his pistol and beat the police officer to death. The incident happened when Shab-e-Qadr prayers were under way in the historic mosque.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti while paying tributes to the police officer said, “the crime of lynching is actually a murder of trust as the officer had allowed his guards to go home”. She said J&K police is one of the finest forces in the country who exercise maximum restraint while dealing with law and order situation.

Meanwhile, National Conference Working President Omar Abdullah strongly condemned the heinous killing of Dy SP Mohammad AyubPandit in Srinagar. He expressed shock and anguish over the dastardly and barbaric killing and expressed solidarity with his family and colleagues. Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has also expressed profound sadness over the lynching of the police officer.