Shopian case: CBI to reach Srinagar on Thursday

A 12-member team of the Criminal Bureau of Investigation is arriving in Srinagar on Thursday to take over the investigation of the Shopian rape and murder case.

The team, headed by a deputy inspector general of police, will take up the investigation from the Special Investigation Team after the Centre overruled the CBI's reluctance and asked the investigating agency to take over.

The government's decision to hand over the case to the CBI came after the failure of the SIT to crack the case, which was complicated by the fudging of the critical forensic evidence of vaginal swabs and mounting public pressure to nab the culprits.

The SIT in a last-ditch effort had even announced a huge cash reward of Rs 20 lakh to catch the culprits, but proved futile and the case had seemingly reached a dead end.

"The team is headed by a senior officer of the level of DIG. It will take up the investigation after detailed briefings from the officers of the SIT and other police officers," a senior state government officer said.

The state high court is monitoring the investigations in the case.

Last week, the high court had ordered the release on bail of four police officers accused in the case of "dereliction of duty" and "destruction of evidence".