Jammu & Kashmir

BJP’s Lal Singh begins march to demand CBI probe, Internet to be snapped in Kathua, Jammu

File Photo of lawyers protesting in Jammu demanding CBI enquiry in the Kathua rape and murder case.

Internet services to be snapped in Kathua, Samba & Jammu districts to prevent spreading of rumours

Former minister and BJP MLA Choudhary Lal Singh who was forced to resign last week for rallying in support of the accused in horrific rape-and-murder of Kathua girl on Tuesday began a march to demand CBI probe into the case.

“The fight is for justice only and its will be done with identifying real culprits,” Singh said while addressing hundreds of supporters at Satwari Chowk in Jammu as he began his Kathua march. “She was our own daughter. We are fighting to punish her culprits but it is unfortunate that people living far away are interpreting this case without knowing the facts,” he said.

Singh, who was the Forest Minister in Mehbooba Mufti government, is planning to visit Kootha, where relatives and family members of the accused are holding a protest to demand CBI probe into the case.

ALSO READ: Jammu, Bakerwals, Sangh and the rape and murder of a minor: Full text of Talib Hussain’s speech at JNU 

Meanwhile, authorities are mulling over the decision to snap internet services in the region, after several rumours spread that have the potential to fan communal hatred.

Singh’s march began a day after Jammu and Kashmir governor accepted the resignations. Eight accused have been arrested in the case by the Crime Branch of Jammu and Kashmir Police.

On Sunday the chief minister Mehbooba Mufti accepted the resignation of two cabinet ministers Chander Prakash Ganga and Chowdhary Lal Singh, who had rallied in support of the accused in the case.

ALSO READ: Rogue support shielding Kathua rape and murder accused: What does it mean?

Earlier, the BJP had said that both the ministers were ‘misled and misguided by a few people.’

The main opposition party National Conference had said that they will consider a civil disobedience movement against the government if they fail to take action against the ‘erring ministers’.

Former chief minister Omar Abdullah also told CM Mehbooba Mufti to sack the two ministers the way she sacked former Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu.

Ganga, the Industries Minister, earlier had said that he was satisfied with the investigation of the Crime Branch and the culprits involved in the rape and murder case of the minor girl should be hanged.

According to the police chargesheet, the minor girl was gangraped and drugged during her captivity at a temple in Rasana. The custodian of the temple, Sanji Ram, is believed to be mastermind of the case.

The investigation revealed that the rape and murder were systematic, preplanned and rooted in religious hatred harboured by Sanji Ram against the Muslim nomadic community of Bakarwals.

The motive, according to the police, was to create fear among the Muslim nomadic Bakarwal community and force them to leave.

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