Chidambaram to 'clarify' Kashmir sex scandal controversy: CBI

Home Minister P Chidambaram is likely to make a statement in Parliament on the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) probe into a 2006 sex scandal that created a storm in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly Tuesday with the PDP alleging that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was also involved, officials in New Delhi said.

Home Minister P Chidambaram is likely to make a statement in Parliament on the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) probe into a 2006 sex scandal that created a storm in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly Tuesday with the PDP alleging that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was also involved, officials in New Delhi said.

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As a political crisis gripped Jammu and Kashmir after Abdullah submitted his resignation, the CBI said it would not react immediately on whether his name figured in the case.

"We are not commenting on this issue just now. The home minister is likely to make a statement in parliament to clarify matters," said a senior CBI official.

However, highly placed CBI sources hinted that Abdullah's name did not come up during the course of investigation.

Declaring that he could not work till his name was cleared, Abdullah threatened to resign over allegations by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that he was involved in the sex scandal that broke in 2006 after a minor girl accused senior politicians, bureaucrats, paramilitary and police officers of raping her.

Later, it was found that she was part of a larger racket. Following the public outrage, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court intervened and directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to handle the probe. The CBI later presented a chargesheet and a trial is underway at a sessions court in Punjab.

The CBI had arrested GM Mir and Raman Mattoo, both ministers in the then PDP government, besides Iqbal Khandey, the former principal secretary to then chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, in the case.