Tahir Ashraf is the Superintendent of Police of the cyber crime wing of Jammu and Kashmir police.

Hours after questioning a journalist for her social media posts on Tuesday, the head of the cyber cell of the Jammu and Kashmir Police was called out for his own old tweet terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi "sadistic".

Amid a growing controversy, Tahir Ashraf, Superintendent of Police of the cyber police wing, was forced to delete his tweet posted in 2013.

In his tweet, the police officer had referred to an NDTV interview of PM Modi on the 2002 Gujarat riots, in which the then Chief Minister had said it would pain him "even if a puppy came under a car".

Responding to the statement, Mr Ashraf had tweeted: "Narendra Modi's puppy analogy on 2002 riots shows his real character... sadistic".

The old tweet surfaced on Tuesday as the Jammu and Kashmir Police charged a 26-year-old female photojournalist under the strict Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for her social media posts.

The officer was also roasted for his controversial tweets about the BJP and Hindutva before the party came to power in 2014.

Tahir Ashraf arrest yourself. Your tweet will be threat to national Sovereignty. @Sheikhzahid402@FaisalMajeed0pic.twitter.com/sG7zaeetyH — MUSAIB BIN UMEYR (@MusaibUmeyr) April 21, 2020

Not forget his endorsement of @Shehla_Rashid's call to overthrow the fascists in India. pic.twitter.com/Sd28mcqgZm — Bekaar Jamaat (@BekaarJ) April 21, 2020

Talking bad about a now Parliamentarian and the supporters of the regime. Tsk Tsk Tsk.https://t.co/iJuPcmgjgK — Bekaar Jamaat (@BekaarJ) April 21, 2020

On Tuesday, the photojournalist Masrat Zahra was called for questioning by the cyber cell of the police which reports to Mr Ashraf.

She has been charged under the tough anti-terror law UAPA for her social media posts which the police say are "anti-national".

Since the centre scrapped Jammu and Kashmir's special status and split it into two union territories last August, several journalists working in Srinagar have been summoned by the police for questioning.

Earlier this week, Mr Ashraf had called a correspondent of The Hindu newspaper Peerzada Ashiq for questioning over a story.

The journalist was later asked to go to the Anantnag district to join the investigation.

The police say a First Information Report or FIR has been registered about a "fake" news report but Mr Ashiq or The Hindu newspaper were not named in the FIR.

Journalist groups say harassment of journalists in Kashmir aims to muzzle the freedom of press and have demanded that cases against them are withdrawn.

In a statement, human rights group Amnesty International too urged the central government to stop the intimidation of journalists in Jammu and Kashmir.