The Crime Branch investigating the Kathua rape and murder case on Monday said that it had been summoning the three witnesses to ask them to clarify the statements they had recorded with the police earlier. This after the three witnesses have moved the Supreme Court alleging that the police have been torturing them, despite the fact that they have already recorded their statements in the court under section 164A of CrPC.
IGP Crime Branch, Afhad-ul- Mujtaba told Greater Kashmir: “Since the three witnesses in the Kathua case have given two separate statements to the police earlier, we have been in fact issuing them summons to clarify as to which out of the two is correct.
The witnesses, Neeraj Sharma, Sachin Sharma, and Sahil Sharma, all college friends of one of the accused, Vishal Jangotra, moved the Apex Court through their counsel, Advocate Ravi Sharma, against the alleged torture by the police.
In the petition filed in the SC, the petitioners have claimed that they are being pressurized by the police to make statements contrary to the facts in the case.
The petitioners also claimed that the police have been repeatedly issuing them summons to re-record their statements despite the fact that they have already recorded their statements under section 164A of the CrPC before the police and Magistrate and told the later that they were tortured to confess against their friend, Vishal Jangotra.
Earlier, the witnesses in the Kathua murder and rape case also told a section of media that the CB tortured them mentally and physically to make them confess that they were using phones of Vishal Jangotra when he was committing the crime in Kathua.
They further told the media that the CB officials also made them admit that they signed the attendance and answer sheet on behalf of Vishal Jangotra during the later’s college examination. The petition was mentioned before a bench of CJI Dipak Misra today while the bench has posted the matter for hearing on Wednesday.
The Apex Court had on May 7 transferred the trial in the Kathua murder and rape case to Pathankot, Punjab directing the sessions and district judge to personally undertake the trial in the case. The top court had also directed that the trial in the case be video-recorded every day.