Cops,experts now part of murder probe

Deputy Inspector General of Police (Jammu-Kathua range) Farooq Khan,who heads the six-member SIT,constituted by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to investigate the case,said on Friday that an official at the Forensic Science Laboratory at Jammu,Sarwar Hussain Bhukhari,took Rs 3.5 lakh for replacing the weapon. The SIT has seized Rs 3.10 lakh from him.

Khan said: “A huge amount of money has exchanged hands and (we have) confirmed that the weapon seized by police was not the one used in murder.”

“The shot was fired by Jatinder Singh from a country-made pistol which was never seized. We have identified the person who arranged the weapon of offence and the pistol which we have seized (from the FSL),” he said.

The FSL expert has revealed the names of several policemen,apart from those who have been suspended by the government. Six police officers,including Senior Superintendent of Police Manohar Singh and SP (South) Mumtaz Ahmed,are already under suspension.

Khan said: “It is just the tip of an ice berg. It is a bigger racket involving many more people and they too will be brought to book soon. Apart from policemen,civilians were also involved,” he added.

Jatinder Singh’s father Naggar Singh, a prominent Jammu contractor,who was summoned by the SIT for questioning,has gone underground. “We will definitely trace him very soon and his disappearance proved that he was also part of the nexus,” said Khan.

To a question about the involvement of senior police officers,the DIG said that SIT has the authority to arrest anyone found involved in the matter. “Investigations are on the right track and many more policemen are involved. If any senior officer is found part of the nexus,he too will be treated and quizzed like other suspects,” he said.

Omar Abdullah set up the SIT after the victim’s family complained that the investigating team was trying to protect the accused.