06-21-2006, 09:04 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->2 J&K ex-ministers held
- By Our Special Correspondent
Srinagar, June 20: The CBI on Tuesday arrested two former ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Ahmed Mir and Raman Mattoo, on charges of being involved in the sensational sex abuse scandal that has evoked a public outcry in the state for weeks.
The CBI also sealed Mattooâs house on the fashionable Gupkar Road here and before doing that seized several documents in the presence of the accused. Mattoo, a Kashmiri pandit who got elected as an Independent from Habba Kadal constituency in the September-October 2002 Assembly elections and was made minister of state for industries in the Mufti Sayeed-led coalition government, was having his breakfast when the CBI sleuths, accompanied by a contingent of the local police, arrived there to arrest him. His mobile phone was also taken away, witnesses and official sources said.
Also sealed was Mirâs residence nearby. However, the former works minister was earlier picked up by the CBI from Kashmir House in New Delhiâs Chanakayapuri area where he had been staying for the past several days, during which he reportedly tried to pull strings in the national capital. He was questioned at length and then placed under arrest, and informed that he would be taken to Srinagar on a transit remand.
Mir had sought an appointment with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who however refused to meet him, reports said. Mir is a Congress MLA elected from a southern Anantnag constituency and was known to be very close to the party high command prior to his losing face as his name figured in the long list of top mainstream politicians, bureaucrats, police and other civil officials involved in the sex abuse scandal.
The investigations by the local police and the CBI have revealed that kingpin Sabeena would allure minor and teenaged girls by promising to get government jobs for them. But instead they would be drugged, filmed in the nude, sexually exploited and then coerced into prostitution.
Both Mir and Mattoo have been booked under Section 5 of the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act for procuring persons for prostitution. Under this section, the two, if convicted, will have to undergo three monthsâ imprisonment or pay a fine of Rs 20,000, or both. Sabeena had named the duo, police sources said. The CBI has also arrested BSF deputy inspector-general K.S. Padhi and Kashmir police DSP Muhammad Ashraf Mir, who have been booked on charges of rape on the basis of a statement made to both the CBI and local police investigators by a 15-year-old victim. She has also reportedly named an IAS officer and several other mainstream politicians and civil and police officials as having exploited her.
The CBI, however, is yet to arrest these individuals. The Kashmir High Court Bar Association, which had filed a public interest litigation case before the high court, has alleged that the CBI has deliberately not taken any action against the other accused. Its president, Mian Abdul Qayyum, also criticised the CBIâs "dilly-dallying" attitude which, he alleged, had resulted in its failure to seize another "big fish", former state additional advocate-general Anil Sethi, who is absconding.
A division bench of the state high court had earlier expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which the CBI was conducting investigations and asked it not only to step up the probe but also lay hands on the "big fish". The court had observed that by allowing the "top guns" involved in the scandal to remain at large, the CBI was wittingly or unwittingly providing them with enough time and opportunity to pull strings in order to influence the probe. The division bench, comprising Justices Bashir Ahmed Kirmani and Hakeem Imtiyaz Hussein, adjourned the case till Friday.
The CBI has, meanwhile, announced a cash reward of Rs 2,00,000 for anyone giving information that would lead to the arrest of Anil Sethi, who is absconding since the arrest warrant was issued against him. By arresting the two former ministers the CBI has tried to impress the court as well as the general public, which is keenly watching the case. The CBI has also indicated that two other senior members of the legislature and a couple of other "influential persons" might be taken into custody soon.
The chief judicial magistrate, Srinagar, has deferred the hearing on the bail applications of DSP Mir and another accused Merajuddin till June 23 as the lawyers have refused to plead their cases. Mirâs wife told the court that even the attorney she had hired earlier for pleading the case had refused to continue.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Mir was nominated by the Congress election committee as polling agent for Sonia Gandhiâs byelection from Rae Bareli. His nomination as the agent was, however, withdrawn after his name started doing rounds in the sex scandal.
- By Our Special Correspondent
Srinagar, June 20: The CBI on Tuesday arrested two former ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Ahmed Mir and Raman Mattoo, on charges of being involved in the sensational sex abuse scandal that has evoked a public outcry in the state for weeks.
The CBI also sealed Mattooâs house on the fashionable Gupkar Road here and before doing that seized several documents in the presence of the accused. Mattoo, a Kashmiri pandit who got elected as an Independent from Habba Kadal constituency in the September-October 2002 Assembly elections and was made minister of state for industries in the Mufti Sayeed-led coalition government, was having his breakfast when the CBI sleuths, accompanied by a contingent of the local police, arrived there to arrest him. His mobile phone was also taken away, witnesses and official sources said.
Also sealed was Mirâs residence nearby. However, the former works minister was earlier picked up by the CBI from Kashmir House in New Delhiâs Chanakayapuri area where he had been staying for the past several days, during which he reportedly tried to pull strings in the national capital. He was questioned at length and then placed under arrest, and informed that he would be taken to Srinagar on a transit remand.
Mir had sought an appointment with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who however refused to meet him, reports said. Mir is a Congress MLA elected from a southern Anantnag constituency and was known to be very close to the party high command prior to his losing face as his name figured in the long list of top mainstream politicians, bureaucrats, police and other civil officials involved in the sex abuse scandal.
The investigations by the local police and the CBI have revealed that kingpin Sabeena would allure minor and teenaged girls by promising to get government jobs for them. But instead they would be drugged, filmed in the nude, sexually exploited and then coerced into prostitution.
Both Mir and Mattoo have been booked under Section 5 of the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act for procuring persons for prostitution. Under this section, the two, if convicted, will have to undergo three monthsâ imprisonment or pay a fine of Rs 20,000, or both. Sabeena had named the duo, police sources said. The CBI has also arrested BSF deputy inspector-general K.S. Padhi and Kashmir police DSP Muhammad Ashraf Mir, who have been booked on charges of rape on the basis of a statement made to both the CBI and local police investigators by a 15-year-old victim. She has also reportedly named an IAS officer and several other mainstream politicians and civil and police officials as having exploited her.
The CBI, however, is yet to arrest these individuals. The Kashmir High Court Bar Association, which had filed a public interest litigation case before the high court, has alleged that the CBI has deliberately not taken any action against the other accused. Its president, Mian Abdul Qayyum, also criticised the CBIâs "dilly-dallying" attitude which, he alleged, had resulted in its failure to seize another "big fish", former state additional advocate-general Anil Sethi, who is absconding.
A division bench of the state high court had earlier expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which the CBI was conducting investigations and asked it not only to step up the probe but also lay hands on the "big fish". The court had observed that by allowing the "top guns" involved in the scandal to remain at large, the CBI was wittingly or unwittingly providing them with enough time and opportunity to pull strings in order to influence the probe. The division bench, comprising Justices Bashir Ahmed Kirmani and Hakeem Imtiyaz Hussein, adjourned the case till Friday.
The CBI has, meanwhile, announced a cash reward of Rs 2,00,000 for anyone giving information that would lead to the arrest of Anil Sethi, who is absconding since the arrest warrant was issued against him. By arresting the two former ministers the CBI has tried to impress the court as well as the general public, which is keenly watching the case. The CBI has also indicated that two other senior members of the legislature and a couple of other "influential persons" might be taken into custody soon.
The chief judicial magistrate, Srinagar, has deferred the hearing on the bail applications of DSP Mir and another accused Merajuddin till June 23 as the lawyers have refused to plead their cases. Mirâs wife told the court that even the attorney she had hired earlier for pleading the case had refused to continue.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Mir was nominated by the Congress election committee as polling agent for Sonia Gandhiâs byelection from Rae Bareli. His nomination as the agent was, however, withdrawn after his name started doing rounds in the sex scandal.