Man wanted in rape case held after 43 years in J&K’S Poonch

POLICE IN Dhargloon village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district have arrested a man in a rape case filed against him and his accomplice in 1979.

Abdul Khaliq, 63, had an arrest warrant issued against him bythepoonchsessionscourton September 19, 1992.

Accordingtothepolice, while his accomplice was arrested, Khaliqhadfledtothegulfwhere he worked as a labourer.

Of late, as the case gathered dustandhisaccomplicewasout on bail, Khaliq had started to makediscreetvisitstohisvillage close to the Line of Control.

He was arrested Sunday basedonatip-offabouthispresence, police said.

“Whenwereachedthere, he was supervising labourers cutting grass on his land,” SHO of Mendhar police station Sajid Baniyasaid, addingthattheman hasbeensenttojudicialcustody.

Whencontacted, Poonchssp Vinay Sharma said that the districtpolicehavelaunchedadrive toarrestabsconders, particularly those in cases of murder, rape andmilitancy-relatedincidents.

After taking over as the district police chief on May 29 this year, Sharma said, he asked all the SHOS to prepare a list of the accused and ensure their arrest at the earliest.

“Wesentteamstobaramulla and Kupwara in Kashmir, and evenoutsidetheunionterritory in search of the absconders,” Sharmasaid, addingthatthedistrictpolicearrested58peoplein less than five months.

Asapoliceteamarrivedtoarrest him, a perplexed Khaliq denied he was the man they were lookingfor. Hiswomenrelatives eventriedtopreventpoliceman from taking him into cutsody.

At the village, Khaliq's arrest came as a surprise as nobody seemedtobeawareoftheoldallegedcrime. Eventhefewelderly villagers had forgotten the incident.

Meanwhile, the police in Kishtwar district Thursday claimed to have apprehended a murder accused five years after the crime was committed.

Police said Nazir Khatana, son of Haji Yaqoob Khatana, of Kot village in Reasi district, was arrested in Kashmir’s Shopian district.