Srinagar, July 10: Accepting the recommendations of the judicial commission which probed the Shopian rape and murder incident, the Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to set up a Special Investigation Team under state’s IG (CID) to probe the role of the suspended policemen.
The Judicial Commission, headed by Justice (Retd.) Muzaffar Jan, had submitted its final report on July 8 recommending prosecution of four policemen and a forensic official on the charge of destruction of evidence, sources here said.
Confirming the charge, state Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather tols the media here that the suspended officials- then Shopian SP, DySp, SI, and another official- will be interrogated and even made to undergo narco analysis if required.
He said FIR will be registered against the policemen. He also confirmed that, as per the state HC order, the bodies of the victims will be exhumed for another post-mortem.
A separate case would be registered against the former SP of Shopian Javed Iqbal for allegedly lying on oath before the Commission. Besides Iqbal, the one-member Commission said DySP Rohit Baskota, SHO Shafiq Ahmed and Sub-inspector Gazi Abdul Rehman were also responsible for destruction of evidence.
He said the CRPF battalion posted near the spot of the incident will also be interrogated by the SIT. He did not specify any deadline given for the investigation.
The minister, however, evaded the question of who committed the crime, saying that the government will bring the culprit to justice. “It has happened for the first time in the history of Kashmir that a judicial commission has found the police men guilty and action has been taken,” he insisted.
The judicial commission was appointed on June 1 following widespread protests by the locals during which two persons lost their lives and scores were injured in firing by security forces.
Four police officers including the then Shopian SP, an official of Forensic Science Laboratory and two doctors of Pulwama hospital were placed under suspension following recommendation by the Commission in its interim report submitted on June 21.
The Commission was required to submit the report within a month. However, the state government granted it 10 days extension following a request.
Kashmir Valley has been seething after a 17-year-old girl and her 22-year-old sister-in-law were found dead in a stream on May 30 in Shopian. The police and the state government first said the women had drowned.
–Agencies–