Politics over rape-murder leads to tension in Jammu
JAMMU: The brutal rape and murder of an eight-year-old Bakerwal girl has polarised the normally peaceful town of Jammu. The local Bar Association has called for a bandh against what it termed the “targeting of minority Dogras”, while the state police lodged a case on Tuesday against lawyers who allegedly tried to prevent it from filing a charge sheet against the accused.
The high-profile case has even divided the state’s polity, with at least two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers in the Mehbooba Mufti government questioning the role of the police.
The victim, who belonged to the nomadic Bakerwal Muslim community, had disappeared from near her home in the forests next to Rasana village in Kathua, 90 km from here, on January 10.
A week later, her body was found in the same area, and medical examination pointed towards sexual assault. During initial investigations, police arrested a juvenile. Later the case was transferred to the state crime branch with clear instructions from Director General of Police SP Vaid to catch the culprits, no matter how high and mighty.
Two Special Police Officers (SPOs) — Deepak Khajuria and Surinder Kumar -- and later, another five persons, including former revenue official and the alleged conspirator, Sanji Ram (60), who surrendered before the special investigation team, were among those arrested.
The crime branch team, which submitted a set of two charge sheets, faced a tough time when local lawyers allegedly tried to prevent them from filing the documents before the court on Monday. On Tuesday, the police filed an FIR against a group of lawyers who held protests and tried to prevent the crime branch officials from performing their duty, a senior police official told PTI.
He said that the lawyers were yet to be identified.
The Jammu Bar Association, on the other hand, alleged that minority Dogras of Jammu and Kashmir in Hiranagar were being “targeted” in the probe by the crime branch and called for a ‘Jammu Bandh’ on Wednesday.
Political parties also traded charges over the handling of the case and the issue acquired a communal hue due to the alleged association of the accused with a right-wing group.
It was found during investigations that a group ‘Hindu Ekta Manch’, which was spearheading an agitation against the police probe, had also been opposing settlement of Gujjar and Bakerwal tribes in Kathua, an official said.
The matter escalated, when two BJP ministers in the ruling coalition -- industries and commerce minister Chander Parkash Ganga and forest minister Lal Singh -- hit out at the police for arresting “one or the other person at will”. “We too want that the real accused are punished...What kind of investigation are they doing?” forest minister Lal Singh said asking why the probe was not being handed over to the CBI.