15 cops suspended for shoe thrown at Omar

SRINAGAR - Fifteen personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir security wing were suspended for Sunday’s security lapse in which a former head constable flung a shoe at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during the Independence Day function here.

The former head constable managed to seat himself in the VIP enclosure just behind where Abdullah was standing at the high-security Bakshi Stadium. He threw a brown shoe at the chief minister and shouted pro-freedom slogans before he was forcibly taken away by security personnel.

The shoe flung by Abdul Ahad Jan landed on the grassy ground in front of Abdullah, without grazing anyone.

Later, Abdullah said light-heartedly that it was better to throw shoes instead of stones as this would not hurt anybody.

“This is a better way of showing protest,” Abdullah said in Urdu.

“Abdul Ahad Jan is a suspended head constable belonging to (south Kashmir’s) Kulgam district who already has a criminal case pending against him,” a police officer said.

Police said Jan was also involved in a case of claiming fake ex-gratia compensation from the government.