Mehbooba Mufti turns down BJP demand for CBI probe into Kathua girl murder case

JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday turned down the BJP’s demand for a CBI probe into the rape-and-murder case of an eight-year-old girl. Mufti said that 95 per cent of the probe has been completed in the case, Minister for Health Bali Bhagat told reporters at a press conference here.

“The chief minister told us (a delegation of BJP ministers) that the investigation into the case has been completed by over 95 per cent. 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, police resorted to lathi-charge and used force to disperse the crowd demanding a CBI probe into the case, officials said. On January 23, six days after the minor girl’s body was recovered, the Jammu and Kashmir government had handed over the case to the crime branch of the state police. The crime branch arrested a Special Police Officer (SPO) for his alleged involvement in the abduction and killing of the girl.