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J&K sex scandal: Ex-BSF DIG among 5 held guilty
Those held guilty are former deputy superintendent of police Mohammad Ashraf Mir, former BSF deputy inspector general KS Padhi and three locals Shabbir Ahmed Laway, Shabbir Ahmed Langhoo and Masud Ahmed.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here on Wednesday held five persons, including former Border Security Force deputy inspector general and an ex-deputy superintendent of police, guilty of rape and acquitted two others in the 12-year-old Jammu and Kashmir sex scandal. The quantum of sentence in the oldest case at the UT district courts will be pronounced on June 4.
Those convicted are then BSF DIG KS Padhi, former DSP Mohammad Ashraf Mir, and three J&K residents — Shabbir Ahmed Laway, Shabbir Ahmed Langhoo and Masud Ahmed. The accused broke down inside the court as soon as the judge pronounced the verdict.
Mehraj-ud-din Malik and Anil Sethi, a former additional advocate general of Jammu and Kashmir, were acquitted as court gave them benefit of doubt as “the prosecution failed to prove charges after the victim refused to identify them in court.”
The scandal surfaced in the heart of Srinagar in 2006 after a pornographic CD involving a 15-year-old was handed over to the police, bringing to light a flesh trade racket and implicating a host of VVIPs in the state. Members of an NGO Samaj Sudhar had a complaint with the police after they got hold of video clippings. The police questioned the two girls and the alleged kingpin, Sabeena. After grilling them, they discovered the names of 56 people allegedly involved in the racket. Sabeena and her husband, Abdul Hamid Bullah, who were running a brothel, were subsequently booked.
The couple, however, died of natural causes during the pendency of the case. The case was transferred to the CBI in May 2006 after names of ministers, MLAs and other influential men emerged in the case
The CBI had named four victims in the case, three of whom turned hostile during the trial. The remaining one was kept in protective custody due to sensitive nature of the case.
During probe, various hoteliers and guesthouse owners besides cops were also booked for criminal conspiracy. A supplementary challan was filed against them but most of the accused were acquitted for want of evidence. The last to be acquitted was Muhammad Yusuf Mir, former SP. Others who were acquitted include Mohammad Iqbal Khandey, former chief secretary; Raman Mattu, former minister; Absar Ahmed Dar, a cop; Hilal Shah and Ghulam Ahmed Mir, both Congress leaders
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