CBI slows down on J&K sex scandal investigation

Though senior officers of Central Bureau of Investigations denied that it has received any instructions from the government of India or the state government of Jammu and Kashmir to slow down the pace of its investigations in the sex case that almost set the valley on fire, sources confirm that the pace of the investigation has been somewhat slowed down.

According to these sources in Jammu, Delhi and Srinagar the political parties of the state are rattled by the names that are springing up during the investigations. " If Chief Minister Gulam Nabi Azad realised that it would have a bearing on his cabinet expansion then he would not have handed over the matter to CBI for investigations," said a senior scribe from Jammu.

A minor girl blew the lid of the sex scam when she mustered up courage and went to the police station along with her parents to registered first information report against the king pin Sabeena and others who were forcibly sending young girls to senior ranking police officers, bureaucrats and political leaders to get their work done.

Two senior ranking politicians Raman Mattoo of the independent MLAs and Gulam Ahmed Mir congress have been arrested and names of two more senior congress leaders are now doing rounds in the valley. A former director of Jammu and Kashmir bank who is known for his proximity to a former chief minister of the state is also being mentioned in this connection. Several senior officers of J&K police and paramilitary forces, a senior Indian Administrative Service officer, a Kashmir DIG and a former additional advocate general Anil Sethi have also been booked.

Senior police officers who have been arrested claimed that the girls were being used as informers and now they are naming them under pressure from the militants who are out to destroy their credibility as they had led their forces in several counter insurgency operations in the valley that led to liquidating of many hard core terrorists.

Former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of the People's Democratic Party is also worried as the 45 girls could name some of his key leaders and there by bring further embarrassment to his party. "PDP, Congress, BJP or any other party are all interested in the slowing down the pace of the investigations.

It looks like this case would also go the Anara Gupta way," said a police officer who wants fair investigations so that his colleagues could get a chance to defend themselves." They should not be picked up just because the girls named them," he said.