PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday claimed the two personal security officers (PSOs) of her daughter Iltija had been placed under suspension for not tipping off the administration about her visit to Kathua to meet the family of a youth who died by suicide after alleged police torture.

The development came on a day Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah met Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi and took up the restoration of statehood and the recent incidents of human rights “violations” here.

The police had reportedly acted against Iltija’s PSOs after her unscheduled visit to the house of 25-year-old Makhan Din, a Gujjar youth from Billawar, on Sunday. Din, who died last week after consuming insecticide, had recorded a video in which he claimed that the police had tortured him to elicit a false confession about connections with an alleged militant.

Mehbooba and her daughter were placed under house arrest on Saturday after the former chief minister expressed her wish to meet the family of Waseem Ahmad Mir, a 32-year-old truck driver who was allegedly shot dead by the army in Kashmir after he failed to stop at a checkpoint last week.

Tensions have flared up in Kashmir following the twin deaths.

Iltija has been demanding a judicial inquiry into both the incidents. On Sunday, she succeeded in visiting Jammu and managed to give the police a slip to meet Din’s family in Kathua.

Her mother on Monday said it was unfair and ironic to punish the two PSOs for no fault of theirs. “They were punished simply because Iltija managed to reach Kathua despite being confined to her home like a criminal,” Mehbooba posted on X.

She regretted the inaction against those responsible for the deaths of Mir and Din.

“The ruling NC government, which came to power promising to ensure security and dignity for the people, remains a silent observer. They thus are not only shirking their responsibility but also thereby normalising these unjust and abnormal actions,” she said.