JK: IG, SSP shunted out in Omar shoe incident

The Jammu and Kashmir government attached two senior police officials, including the Inspector General (Security) on Thursday, for lax security arrangements for Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at an Independence day function, during which a suspended head constable hurled a shoe at him.

Inspector General (Security) Ram Lubhaiya, an IPS officer of 1985 batch and Senior Superintendent of Police Srinagar Rafeeq Ul Hassan have been attached to police headquarters till further notice, an official spokesman said.

Fifteen policemen have already been suspended by the state government in connection with the incident.

Official sources said the policemen, four of whom who were of sub-inspector rank, faced the action pending an inquiry for lax security arrangements which enabled the constable Abdul Ahad Jahan to enter the highly secured Bakshi Stadium.

Jahan, who was in the VIP enclosure behind the rows where Omar was taking salute from marching contingents after unfurling the national flag, was overpowered by securitymen and arrested. He was later released after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah pardoned him.

Authorities probing the incident claimed that Jahan had links with a rival political party. The party was not named.

Jahan, a resident of Ajjas in Bandipore, claimed during interrogation that he was dropped by a zonal president of the rival political party on his motorcycle at the Bakshi Stadium, according to official sources.