Police to produce witnesses including SSP today

Pathankot: The Jammu and Kashmir Police will produce witnesses including Senior Superintendent of Police (crime branch) Ramesh Jalla in the brutal rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl at Kathua in January this year before the district and sessions judge here tomorrow, officials said.

The court, which is hearing the case on directions of the Supreme Court, had issued summons to some of the prosecution witnesses who failed to appear on Friday as it was served late.

Jalla, who headed the investigation, along with three other witnesses will be appearing before the court tomorrow after the district and sessions judge had expressed his displeasure over absence of witnesses on Friday and had issued directions to him for his personal appearance on Monday.

The parents of the victim, who belongs to nomadic minority community which shift their base during the summer months to higher reaches of the Valley, were likely to be produced before the court on Tuesday as locating them and serving them summons took some time, the officials said.

The court had on Thursday framed charges of rape and murder against seven of the eight accused, paving way for beginning of trial against them.

The accused against whom charges were framed were Sanji Ram, his son Vishal, special police officers Deepak Khajuria alias Deepu and Surinder Verma, Parvesh Kumar alias Mannu, head constable Tilak Raj, and sub-inspector Arvind Datta, officials had said. Sanji Ram is considered to be the main accused who is alleged to have hatched the conspiracy with other accused for kidnapping the girl as a carefully planned strategy to remove the minority nomadic community from the area, the crime branch charge sheet has alleged.