Omar shoe-thrower cries in court, gets 5 days in custody

Srinagar: Suspended policeman Abdul Ahad Jan, who hurled a shoe at Jammu and Kashmir Chief minister Omar Abdullah at the Independence Day function in Srinagar on Sunday, was produced in court and remanded to five days in police custody on Monday. Jan has been booked under sections on sedition.

Jan's lawyer Mudassir Gulzar said the former policeman was produced before the Forest Magistrate Masarat Ruhi. Jan broke down in court, Gulzar said and told the magistrate he had been tortured in police custody. Gulzar said: "He was not in a good condition and complained about being in pain." The police, however, assured the court that Jan was under proper medical supervision at the police hospital. Jan was brought to the court late in the afternoon and appeared for 15 minutes.
Jan, Gulzar said, also told the court that he was being pressured to implicate "separatist leaders or a particular mainstream political party" in the crime. Jan told the court he threw the shoe out of his own volition and because of his anger about the prevailing state of affairs. He said he is a son of the soil and was angry about the ongoing killings," Gulzar said. Jan is, however, believed to have told the police that he was incited by a mainstream politician to throw the shoe at Abdullah.
Jan has been booked under section 124-A of Ranbir Penal Code which applies to a person who "by word, oral or written, signs or visual representation attempts to bring hatred or disaffection towards the government". Gulzar said he will move the bail application on Tuesday.

Jan threw the shoe at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah when he went up on the podium to unfurl the national flag on Independence Day. He breached the tight security cordon and sat in the third row of the VIP enclosure. After throwing his shoe which didn't hit Abdullah, Jan shouted pro-freedom slogans. He was quickly overpowered and taken into custody.
Soon after the shoe-throwing incident, people at his village Ajas Bandipore, flocked to his home. Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Geelani said he saluted Jan's courage. "The Abdullah family has always betrayed Kashmiris for their hunger for power. The shoe-throwing is the result of the consequent anger," Geelani said. In a statement, Dukhtaran-i-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi has said Jan represented the sentiments of oppressed Kashmiris. Several cases are registered against Jan. Gulzar, who has also represented Jan in other cases, refused to give details about them.