J&K hesitant to act on CBI findings in shopian case

The Jammu and Kashmir government is hesitating to take action against those chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for destroying and fabricating evidence in the Shopian case, report HT Correspondents.

The Jammu and Kashmir government is hesitating to take action against those chargesheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for destroying and fabricating evidence in the Shopian case.

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Four days after the CBI filed chargesheets against 13 people, the government said it was up to the Jammu and Kashmir high court to act against them.

The reason: Widespread protests in the Valley, terming the CBI findings that the two women died by drowning, and were not raped and murdered, as the “Shopian drama”.

On May 30, Asiya Jan, 17, and her sister-in-law Neelofer Jan, 23, were found dead in a stream near Shopian town.

The victims’ family and separatist groups had accused security personnel of rape and murder triggering violence in the state. Later, the court recommended the case be handed over to the CBI.

Reacting to Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s statement that rejecting the CBI findings was bizarre, All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said, “The Indian Home Minister should know … people have no faith in Indian institutions.”

The High Court Bar Association called for a shutdown on December 23. “We reject the CBI contention,” said association president Mian Qayoom.

State Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather, who informed assembly on August 12 on the decision to bring in the CBI, said on Friday the government was not sure if it had the authority to take action against those chargesheeted.

He said, “The law ministry will be in a better position to comment.” But the law ministry has refused to come out in the open, as minister Sagar said, “We didn’t go for the probe, it was the opposition that pushed us into it.”