Shopian murder: Four accused Kashmir cops arrested after court order (Lead)
July 15th, 2009 - 10:57 pm ICT by IANSSrinagar, July 15 (IANS) Four suspended cops were arrested Wednesday evening after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court so ordered and asked police to profile their DNA for their alleged involvement in the “heinous crime of rape followed by murder” of two south Kashmir women May 30.
A division bench of Chief Justice Barin Ghosh and Justice Mohammed Yaqoob Mir directed the special investigation team (SIT) to “arrest and produce” the accused police officers before the court.
Soon after the court order, Javed Iqbal Mattoo, then superintendent of police Shopian, Rohit Baskotra his deputy, inspector Shafeeq Ahmed and station house officer Qazi Abul Kareem were arrested in the evening. They have been accused of destroying crucial evidence in the case.
The SIT, headed by Inspector General of Police Farooq Ahmad, has been asked “to collect their blood samples for their DNA profiling”.
The blood samples should “be sealed by the registrar (judicial) and immediately sent to the central forensic laboratory New Delhi for the purpose of preparing DNA profiles”, the court said.
The bench said any bail application filed by the accused should be transferred to the high court for a decision.
A narco-analysis of the accused officers should be done at the forensic science laboratory in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, the court said. There are no facilities for carrying out the test in Kashmir.
The court expressed satisfaction over the investigations by the SIT in the rape and murder of pregnant Nilofar Jan 22, and her sister-in-law Asiya Jan, 17, who were found dead off a stream in Shopian town May 30.
The incident triggered valley-wide protests and the south Kashmir town has been observing shutdown since then.
The court appealed to the people of Shopian to call off the strike that has been on for the last 48 days.
“We assure them that as the people of the state are behind them so is this court and it would be our collective effort to ultimately solve the crime and appropriately deal with the perpetrator(s) of the heinous crime of rape followed by murder,” the court order said.
- Shopian murder: Kashmir court orders DNA test of accused cops - Jul 15, 2009
- Court clears decks for CBI probe into Shopian rape-murder (Lead) - Aug 28, 2009
- 48-day-long strike ends in Shopian - Jul 16, 2009
- Four Shopian police officers' blood samples collected - Jul 19, 2009
- Apex court stays narco-tests of Kashmir cops in rape-murder case - Jul 21, 2009
- Rs.20 lakh reward for Shopian case information: police - Aug 29, 2009
- J and K HC orders exhumation of Shopian rape victims bodies - Jul 04, 2009
- Policemen get bail in Shopian rape and murder - Sep 11, 2009
- High court defers Shopian murder case hearing - Aug 19, 2009
- Blood samples of arrested police officials collected in Shopian murder case - Jul 19, 2009
- Court asks CBI not to leak Shopian probe details - Sep 30, 2009
- Book suspended officials as accused: Shopian probe report - Jul 10, 2009
- Shopian activist found dead in Kashmir orchard - Sep 09, 2009
- Shopian deaths due to drowning; no rape, murder: CBI (Second Lead) - Dec 14, 2009
- Shopian Case: J and K High court grants bail to four cops - Sep 11, 2009
Tags: barin, blood samples, crime of rape, deputy inspector, division bench, dna profiles, dna profiling, farooq, forensic laboratory, forensic science laboratory, heinous crime, house officer, investigation team, kareem, mattoo, nilofar, rohit, south kashmir, station house, yaqoob