Kathua rape and murder: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti rejects demand for CBI inquiry
The Jammu and Kashmir CM said the crime branch will submit the chargesheet in a day or two and the court will then take a view of it.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday rejected the demand for an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua.
Several groups have been protesting in the state for the last few weeks demanding a CBI inquiry into the rape-and-murder case. The state police’s crime branch is currently investigating the incident.
A delegation of ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party had met Mufti to demand a CBI inquiry, PTI reported. They told her a CBI inquiry would convince protestors of the fairness of the investigation, according to The Indian Express.
Mufti told the BJP delegation that the crime branch had completed “over 95%” of its inquiry, Minister for Health Bali Bhagat said. “She said in a day or two, the crime branch will submit the chargesheet and then the court will accordingly take a view of it,” Bhagat said.
Meanwhile, a police constable and a sub-inspector were arrested after the crime branch found they had allegedly tried to destroy evidence after the incident. It was “prima facie established” that one of them washed the girl’s clothes, which were soaked in blood and mud, before sending them to a forensic laboratory, an official told Greater Kashmir.
In February, the Jammu and Kashmir Police had arrested a special police officer for allegedly kidnapping, raping and killing the eight-year-old girl in Kathua district in January.