Kathua rape-murder case: Ministers interfering in the ongoing probe, says NC

Opposition National Conference (NC) today alleged that ministers in the Jammu and Kashmir government were interfering in the ongoing probe into the January rape-and-murder case of an eight-year-old girl.
The party claimed that the participation of the ministers in a Hindu Ekta Manch rally was conclusive proof and that the event was held despite prohibitory orders in Kathua was an open challenge to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
The Manch is spearheading an agitation opposing the crime branch's probe into the the case and claiming that the agency was harassing innocent people.
The chief minister needs to explain how prohibitory orders imposed in the area were openly violated by two of her cabinet colleagues as well as MLAs from the ruling dispensation, and till now why no action under law has been taken on this transgression, NC state spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu said in a statement here.

He was referring to the reported participation of two cabinet ministers Lal Singh and Chander Prakash Ganga in the Hindu Ekta Manch rally on Thursday.
Mattu said Mehbooba had on February 61 had said she was appalled by the Hindu Ekta Manch march in favour of the culprits of the heinous crime.

But less than two weeks later, her cabinet colleagues not only participated in the rally, but also addressed it, he said
We want to know how the prohibitory orders were violated and if this was done with the tacit approval of the chief minister? If not, then why has no action been taken against the district administration, the district police and more importantly the BJP ministers who made a mockery of the law through their participation?

Is the chief minister too scared to act? Is power so important to her that she is willing to be ridiculed in such fashion, Mattu said.
He said the judiciary should take a strong note of these brazen attempts to interfere into the ongoing investigation and hold the BJP ministers, legislators and the organisers of such events legally accountable.
We appeal to the courts to take suo-moto cognizance of these violations and attempts to create hindrances into an ongoing investigation into a very sensitive matter both for the family of the innocent victim but also the people of the state at large.

The law is supreme and if the chief minister has failed to uphold her duty then the courts should take note of this collapse in the law and order machinery and take immediate steps to restore the faith of the people in the law of the land, the NC state spokesperson said.
Mattu said divisive elements were using the pretext of a demand for a CBI probe to slow-down the probe and intimidate both the family of the victim, key witnesses as well as the investigation officers.
The probe should be fast-tracked and monitored by the Court on a day-to-day basis considering both the severity and sensitivity of the beastly crime as also repeated attempts of interference by senior ministers and political quarters. The police should first be allowed to do its job and then be held accountable, the NC state spokesperson said.

The girl's body was recovered from the Rassana forest on January 17, a week after she went missing while grazing horses in the forest area.
On January 23, the government handed over the murder case to the state police's crime branch which arrested a Special Police Officer (SPO) in February for his alleged involvement in the abduction and killing of the girl.