Thaindian News

Srinagar, Oct 3 (IANS) The mysterious death of a ruling National Conference (NC) worker, that has created a political storm in Jammu and Kashmir, Monday led to pandemonium and ugly scenes in the state assembly as the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) raised a ruckus and alleged the chief minister’s involvement. A top government official later clarified that the NC worker died of a heart attack.

Mikes were uprooted, a fan hurled and house papers torn in the assembly as the Speaker Muhammad Akbar Lone and PDP leader Iftekhar Hussain Ansari traded abuses in the house.

The ugly scenes forced three adjournments of the assembly, the last one for the day. A sombre Chief Minister Omar Abdullah watched the goings-on silently. Later, addressing a press conference, he said he would slap defamation notices on opposition PDP leaders for alleging his hand in the death of NC worker Sayeed Muhammad Yousuf.

The trouble started in the morning as the assembly session started when PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti sought an adjournment of the house. She wanted the house to suspend question hour and start a debate on the alleged custodial killing of Yusuf on Sep 30.

However, Speaker Lone declined saying the state government has requested the chief justice to appoint a sitting high court judge to probe the matter.

The speaker adjourned the house initially twice and as the house met after the second adjournment, he said he regretted the earlier happening in the house.

PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig wanted to raise some points over the speaker’s rejection but the members of the treasury benches including several ministers rose from their seats in protest forcing the second adjournment.

Later, the speaker got into a heated argument with Molvi Iftekhar Hussain Ansari of the PDP over the issue when the house witnessed unprecedented scenes of unparliamentary behaviour.

When the house assembled for the third time, the speaker expressed regret over his remarks against Ansari and directed that these be expunged from the records of the assembly.

“I regret what happened in the beginning. The remarks be expunged from the record and media is requested not to carry the remarks,” Lone said.

PDP president Mufti told reporters that the finger of suspicion in the alleged custodial killing pointed to the chief minister, his father, union minister Farooq Abdullah, and junior home minister Nasir Aslam Wani.

“What has come to light is that Omar became the interrogator, the judge and the executioner. A fair probe is not possible while they are in power,” Mufti said.

National Panthers Party legislator Balwant Singh Makotia demanded a CBI probe into the death of Yusuf.

When the house assembled after the third adjournment, PDP legislators again stood up demanding that their leader and former deputy chief minister Baig be allowed to make a statement in the house.

When the speaker did not allow this, the PDP members stormed towards the speaker’s podium shouting slogans like, “Katilon Ko Pesh Karo, Pesh Karo (Present the killers)”.

As the chaos continued, the speaker adjourned the house for the day.

Yusuf, a land dealer from south Kashmir’s Bijbehara town, died last week Friday, allegedly in police custody. He had been detained for questioning along with two other middle-rung leaders of the party, who alleged that Yusuf had taken a bribe of Rs.1.18 crore from them for getting one a minister’s post and the other a legislator’s seat.

The government said Yusuf had died in the local police hospital due to a heart attack.

The PDP, however, alleges that Yusuf died under mysterious circumstances after he was called to the house of the chief minister to explain his position.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at a hurriedly convened press conference on the lawns of the assembly said serious charges were levelled against him, his father, and minister of state (MOS) home Nasir Aslam Wani by Mehbooba Mufti.

“I will not respond to these allegations. My lawyers will serve a defamation notice on Mehbooba Mufti”, Omar said. He regretted that his silence over the death of the NC worker was being seen as proof of his guilt.

Meanwhile, state Home Commissioner B.R. Sharma, addressing a press conference, said that the post-mortem report of the deceased NC worker said that he died of cardiac arrest. Director General of police (DGP), Kuldeep Khoda and Inspector General of state crime branch Raja Ajaz Ali also addressed the press conference.

“No injury marks were seen on the body of the deceased person,” Sharma said.