Shopian case: Victims' bodies to be exhumed

The Central Bureau of Investigation has decided to exhume the bodies of the two victims in the Shopian rape and murder case

The need for the exhumation of the bodies arose after the investigating agency reached the conclusion that 'critical evidence had been destroyed in the case and fresh evidences were required to make headway in the case'.

The CBI will approach the district magistrate of Shopian to get the requisite permission to exhume the bodies of Asiya Jan, 17, and her sister-in-law Neelofar Jan, 22, on Sunday.

The agency has already taken the consent of the family members of the two victims.

A team from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) New Delhi is arriving in Srinagar to conduct the autopsy and collect the samples.

Special Director of the CBI S C Sinha will oversee the autopsy of the bodies by a CFSL team.

A 12-member team of the CBI headed by Deputy Inspector General S K Golcha is investigating the case after the failure of the Special Investigation Team of the state police to crack the case.

Bodies of Asiya Jan and Neelofar Jan were found by a village stream in the wee hours of May 30, hours after they went missing from a family orchard in southern Kashmir's Shopian town.

The CBI investigation team has already visited the site of the crime and held meetings with the members of the SIT and the families of the two victims.