As the people recoiled in disgust at the unseemly conduct of lawyers in Kathua on Monday when they came in the way of the police to stop them from presenting a charge sheet in the Asifa rape and murder case, the police, under clear directions of the government, on Tuesday booked the lawyers for rioting and impeding government officials from carrying out their lawful duty.
The police, taking note of a complaint made by police officials of the Kathua Police Station, booked some 40 “anonymous lawyers” of the Kathua Bar Association for obstructing the Crime Branch officials from filing the charge sheet in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate.
“We’ve booked some lawyers for preventing the CB officials from presenting the challan in Asifa rape and murder case in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kathua,” said S.P. Vaid, Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police.
The lawyers, all members of the Bar Association of Kathua, have been booked under FIR number 131/2018 under sections 353 (assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty), 147 (rioting), 341 (wrongful restraint) of RPC at Police Station, Kathua.
The lawyers’ body, however, in a meeting called in the evening, condemned the Kathua Police for the lodging of FIR against the lawyers, claiming, “We’re only protesting peacefully.”
President of the Bar Association of Kathua, Kirti Mahajan, said, “I condemn the lodging of FIR against the peacefully protesting lawyers. By going this harsh against advocates, it has been proved that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and DGP, SP Vaid, were under pressure from Omar Abdullah, who was repeatedly tweeting on this incident.”
He further said: “It sounds weird that Kathua Police Station became complainant in the case. Had Crime Branch lodged FIR, we would not have been surprised, but police’s becoming party in the case shocked us.”
“We were also taken by surprise when police personal attacked the peacefully protesting lawyers with batons and fists, because the men in uniform were not called by the Judicial Officer,” he said, while questioning, “Then on whose behest, the JKP personnel entered into the Kathua court premises?”
In its investigation, the Crime Branch has established that Asifa was raped and murdered by residents of Rasana and adjoining village to force the Bakerwal community out of the region. Asifa was from the same community.
Eight persons, including SPO Deepak Khajuria, SPO Surinder Verma, Sub Inspector Anand Dutta, head constable Tilak Raj, Retired Patwari Sanji Ram and his son Vishal Kumar, and a juvenile have been arrested in the case. The Crime Branch today produced a separate challan against the juvenile in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kathua.
Sanji Ram, a retired revenue officer, is the custodian of the Devasthan temple where Asifa was held captive for a week. The investigation has concluded that police sub-inspector Anand Datta and head constable Tilak Raj were involved in destroying crucial evidence about the crime. The duo was arrested after it was established that they had washed Asifa’s clothes before sending them for forensic investigations.
According to the Crime Branch officials, the viscera report of the deceased has established that she was drugged by the accused so that she would not cry for help. “The viscera report is positive for clonazepam. This means that the victim was drugged by the accused,” they said. The medical report, according to them, has also revealed that the cause of Asifa’s death was asphyxiation.