A police officer was beaten to death by an angry mob outside a mosque in India-held Kashmir, police said Friday, as tensions in the volatile region ran high.

Witnesses said the mob attacked Mohammad Ayub Pandith late Thursday after he fired his pistol when confronted by worshippers at the mosque in the main city of Srinagar who suspected him of being a government spy.

Violence between government forces and civilians has spiked in recent months in the region, where many oppose Indian rule.

A police statement said Pandith, a deputy superintendent with the security wing of the state police, had been “attacked and beaten to death by a mob”.

He “sacrificed his life in the line of duty,” the statement said.

Witnesses said worshipers confronted Pandith, who was not wearing a uniform, as he took pictures with his mobile phone outside the Jamia Mosque in Srinagar during the festival of Lailatul Qadr, when Muslims hold late-night prayers.

He drew out his pistol and fired, injuring three, as his colleague fled the scene, they said.

“Some youths at that point immediately pounced on him, snatched his weapon and more people came and started beating him up,” a witness told AFP, declining to give his name.

Kashmir's chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq condemned the murder in a tweet.

“Mob violence & public lynching is outside the parameters of our values & religion,” he said.

“We cannot allow state brutality to snatch our humanity and values.”

Hundreds of stone-throwing residents clashed with police in the area after the killing and authorities have imposed restrictions on people's movements, fearing protests.

The incident came a week after suspected rebels in Indian Kashmir ambushed a police patrol, killing five officers.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947, but both claim the territory in its entirety.

Rebel groups have for decades fought roughly 500,000 Indian soldiers deployed in the disputed territory, demanding independence or a merger of the region with Pakistan.

Over the past year, the violence has increasingly drawn in civilians, with young students holding mass protests and whole communities coming out to throwing stones at government forces during operations targeting militants.

Officials say dozens of young men have joined the rebel ranks since security forces killed a hugely popular rebel commander last July.

Opinion

One year on

One year on

Governance by the ruling coalition has been underwhelming and marked by growing authoritarianism.

Editorial

Climate funding gap
Updated 17 Feb, 2025

Climate funding gap

Pakistan must boost its institutional capacity to develop bankable climate projects.
UN monitoring report
Updated 17 Feb, 2025

UN monitoring report

Pakistan must press Kabul diplomatically over its tolerance of TTP terrorism.
Tax policy reform
17 Feb, 2025

Tax policy reform

THE cabinet’s decision to create a Tax Policy Office at the finance ministry has raised hopes that tax policy is...
Maintaining balance
Updated 16 Feb, 2025

Maintaining balance

It must take a more proactive approach to establishing Pakistan’s bona fides.
Welcome return
16 Feb, 2025

Welcome return

IT is almost here; the moment Pakistan has long been waiting for — the first International Cricket Council...
Childhood trauma
16 Feb, 2025

Childhood trauma

BEING a child in this society should not be so hard. But recurrent reports of child abuse — from burying girl...