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Shopian case: JK govt orders CBI probe

August 12, 2009 17:00 IST
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday decided to order a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the infamous Shopian rape and murder of two young women, after seeking permission from the state high court where the matter is sub judice.

The announcement was made on the floor of in-session state assembly by the state finance minister Abdul Rahim Rather on behalf of the state chief minister, following uproarious scenes witnessed in the house on the issue on Wednesday morning.

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party members were on their feet on Wednesday morning in the state assembly in the backdrop of press reports quoting the central forensic science laboratory sources saying the vaginal swabs sent for DNA profiling had been fudged.

The PDP members were joined by other members of the house in demanding a probe into the matter.

Rather had, however, pacified the members saying the CM Omar Abdullah would make a statement on the issue in the afternoon.

However, the chief minister did not turn up to make the statement.

No statement was, however, made. Only an announcement regarding the CBI probe was made by Rather.

The state high court which is hearing a PIL filed by the Kashmir bar association was presented with the copy of the report by the Special Investigation Team investigating the case at Wednesday's hearing.

The chief justice Barin Ghosh while hearing the case said that, "If need be we will bring officers from outside the state to investigate the case and will not allow snatching of the truth from us."

The case has now been listed for August 18.

The bodies of 17-year old Asiya Jan and her 22-year old sister-in-law Neelofar Jan were recovered from a village stream on May 30.

The two went missing on the evening of May 29 while returning from an orchard in south Kashmir's Shopian town.

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar