Kathua rape: Protest turns violent in Jammu
Several people were injured in police action during clashes that followed on the Jammu-Srinagar national highwaybetween authorities and protesters from the Dogra community demanding a CBI probe into the rape-and-murder case of an eightyear-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.
One person was reported critical after he was hit by a bus during the protest.
The girl’s body was recovered from a forest on January 17, a week after she had gone missing. On January 23, the government handed over the case to the crime branch of the police, which arrested two Special Police Officers for their alleged involvement in her abduction and killing.
Thousands took to the streets demanding a CBI investigation into the matter.
The special investigation team later also arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with the case.
On Thursday, a large number of police personnel were deployed in the area fearing trouble during the protest. The protesters raised slogans against chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, the BJP, and the police and the crime branch.
When they disrupted traffic on the highway, the police resorted to teargas shelling and baton charge to disperse them, leading to clashes between them.
“The protest rally has been dispersed and the traffic has been restored,” a police officer told PTI. He said the injured have been admitted to the Government Medical College hospital in Jammu.
The officer said the driver of the vehicle that reportedly hit a protestor had been detained.
The police said they had to baton charge the protesters to clear the highway.
However, the protesters alleged that the policemen there pushed the person and he was rammed by the vehicle.
Meanwhile, more than 70 activists of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party were detained by the police before they could join the “Ekta Yatra”.
JKNPP state chief Balwant Singh Mankotia told reporters that the people of Jammu area want a CBI probe. He claimed the crime branch officers belong to a particular community and expressed fears of harassment.
“These crime branch officers have harassed Hindus in the area in the name of probe, resulting in a large migration of Hindus from the area last week. It cannot be tolerated. We all want a probe by the CBI to arrest and punish the culprits.”
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