CBI finds loopholes in Shopian probe

The Central Bureau of Investigation has found some loopholes in the probe conducted by the Special Investigative Team of the Jammu and Kashmir police in the Shopian rape and murder case.

The team, which has started the investigation from the beginning, will also be taking the advice of forensic experts on whether exhuming the bodies of Neelofar and his sister-in-law Aasiya, who were raped and murdered, will serve any purpose, official sources said.

The nine-member team, which arrived in Srinagar on Thursday, has discovered that several leads were not investigated properly by the SIT, including the letter which was purportedly written by a male classmate of Aasiya, claiming she might have been murdered by her own family member, the sources said.

The letter, which was received at a police station in the newly carved out district in the Kashmir valley, claims that the two were on friendly terms and this was not liked by her brother Shakeel Ahmed Ahanghar.

The letter was posted immediately after unrest broke out, following the recovery of the bodies of Aasiya and Neelofar on May 30, but it was reported to have been delivered at the police station only after the 47-day-long protests ended, sources said.

The writer of the letter claimed that he had met Aasiya on the fateful day of May 29 along with Neelofar at the nearby orchard. However, they were spotted by Shakeel, prompting the two women to run away from the area.

He had, in the letter, requested the police to investigate the matter, fearing the victims may have been murdered by family members.

The team, which is headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police, CBI, Satish Golcha, had held discussions with the Special Investigating Team led by Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range) Farooq Ahmed.

The state government had directed the CBI on September 15 to investigate the case.