CM regrets people were being instigated for violence



Srinagar, June 1: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Monday announced judicial probe into the mysterious death of two women in Shopian on Friday,saying a former High Court judge has been asked to investigate the matter threadbare.

The probe will be conducted by Justice (retired) Muzaffar Jan, and report submitted to the government within a month which would be subsequently tabled in the state Assembly to make it public.

The Chief Minister also ordered transfer of the Deputy Commissioner Shopian, Mohammed Ramzan Thukur who has been replaced by Abdul Majid Khanday, DC Ganderbal.

Thukur has been transferred for not dealing with the situation properly while as new Deputy Commissioner rushed to take the charge in a helicopter.

Pledging that his government won't conceal facts and would instead prefer to sacrifice power rather than compromise on its credibility, Chief Minister also regretted that people are being instigated for violence by certain elements who are blowing up even trivial issues out of proportion.

Addressing a hurriedly called press conference in Srinagar today, Omar Abdullah while terming the Shopian incident as unfortunate, said his government has acted to ascertain facts wherever use of excessive force has been alleged.

Citing incident of Bomai in which the government ordered a time-bound inquiry, the Chief Minister said if the inquiry commission in the Shopian case establishes that the two women have been raped and murdered, the persons responsible will receive severest punishment.
This is not an open-ended probe. Though Justice Jan asked for one month to submit report, I requested him to complete his probe in lesser time, the Chief Minister said, urging people to give time to his government to establish truth in the matter.

Giving details about the decision to institute judicial inquiry to probe the matter, the Chief Minister said this was done to reaffirm the resolve of the government not to hide anything and be transparent in such matters.
He said the terms of reference will be given to the Commission which will investigate the incident in one month and the government will act on the report submitted by Justice Jan. Please allow us to reach the truth, he asked people and the media and urged them not to jump to conclusions.

The Chief Minister said he will not shy away from exhuming the bodies of the deceased women to establish the truth, if the inquiry commission felt so. In order to reach the bottom of the case, I will order exhumation of the bodies of the two women and fresh autopsy by an independent panel comprising doctors from any part of the country, the Chief Minister maintained.

Expressing his displeasure with media for failing to feel the sensitivity of such cases, the Chief Minister pointed out that an English news channel was running a ticker captioned Bandh call against rape and murder of two women by security forces; regretting that at least the channel could have used the word alleged as nobody knows the circumstances that led to the death of the two women.

Replying to a question, the Chief Minister said the Deputy Commissioner, Shopian has already been transferred for not dealing with the situation properly. He said government was also looking into the role of the Health department and if it is found that anybody has faltered in conduct of duties, he will come down with a hammer on the guilty.

Referring to the killing of a person at Alochi Bagh, the Chief Minister said it was a case of blatant misuse of power by an SOG official for his own personal interest.

The deceased person owed the SOG official Rs 40,000 for which he called him to the SOG camp, the Chief Minister said, adding he has recommended the dismissal of the said SOG official from service.
And to a question whether the SOG still existed, the Chief Minister said SOG was never disbanded and that he has inherited it from previous regimes.

Pointing out that certain elements were misleading the people, the Chief Minister said even trivial issues are blown out of proportion.
Making a pointed reference to an 18-year-old boy, Mehrajuddin Gilkar, who was returning home from Jammu, Chief Minister informed: He (Gilkar) called his family from Batote informing them that he will reach by evening. After this, he switched off his mobile phone, probably to save battery. And on finding his cell phone off, the family panicked and alleged that the boy had been kidnapped and some 250 people gathered outside the UN office shouting slogans. He said nothing of the sort had happened and the boy reached home safely by evening.

He also referred to a road accident involving an Army vehicles which killed a youth from Pampore few days back, saying on the same day several other people will killed in other accidents elsewhere but then nobody talked about those accidents.

I am not justifying the road accident involving troops but am only pointing out to the selective steering and manipulation of public anger by vested interests, Omar Abdullah said.

Expressing his displeasure at frequent shutdowns and strikes, Omar Abdullah said strike calls given by some groups will affect education of children as well as tourism in the state. As many as 3,800 tourists arrived here on Saturday while only 2,600 visitors reached on Sunday. If strikes continue, this season will also be lost, the Chief Minister feared.


* Judicial enquiry ordered, headed by retired Justice Muzaffar Jan, to submit report in 1 month
* Report to be tabled in Assembly to make facts public
* Will not shield the guilty
* Will exhume bodies, order fresh autopsy, if the Commission recommends
* Media should not pre-judge things
* DC Shopian transferred for not dealing with the situation properly

[Kashmir Images]


Posted on 02 Jun 2009 by Webmaster