Demanding a fair trial, the fifteen accused in the sex racket case, including two former Jammu and Kashmir ministers, began an indefinite hunger strike inside the Central Jail on Saturday.
The accused stopped taking any food on Saturday morning alleging they were not getting a fair trial from the courts.
They also protested the inability to get lawyers to defend them in court.
Kashmir Bar Association has moved a resolution barring its members from representing the sex accused in the court as the association is a party to the case by virtue of having filed a public interest litigation in the state high court.
Only former minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir and former Additional Advocate General of Jammu and Kashmir Anil Sethi have the services of counsels representing them.
While Supreme Court lawyer HR Khan Suhel is the counsel for Mir, Sethi is represented by his brother Sunil.
Fifteen persons have so far been arrested by the CBI in connection with the case.
Besides Mir and Sethi, the arrested persons include another former minister Raman Matoo, IAS officer M Iqbal Khanday, BSF DIG KS Padhi, two deputy superintendents of police Mohammad Ashraf Mir and Mohammad Yousuf Mir and alleged kingpin of the racket Sabeena.
{{/usCountry}}Besides Mir and Sethi, the arrested persons include another former minister Raman Matoo, IAS officer M Iqbal Khanday, BSF DIG KS Padhi, two deputy superintendents of police Mohammad Ashraf Mir and Mohammad Yousuf Mir and alleged kingpin of the racket Sabeena.
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