Kathua rape case: Onus on Mehbooba Mufti if report questioning chargesheet is true, says BJP MLC Surinder Ambardar

Jammu: The BJP on Sunday said if a report questioning the chargesheet filed by the police in the Kathua rape and murder case was true then the onus was on the Home Minister Mehbooba Mufti to issue a clarification on it.

A citizen's group which conducted an individual probe into the rape and killing of an eight-year-old girl had claimed that the chargesheet filed by the Crime Branch had discrepancies and the investigation was botched-up. They had demanded a CBI probe in the case.

"If the recent findings questioning the facts of chargesheet are true, then onus lies on the state home minister to clarify," senior BJP leader and party MLC Surinder Ambardar told reporters.

He was replying to question on whether Mufti, who is the chief minister of the state, should resign in view of the new revelations in the case.

He had also referred to a report by a panel of the Bar Council of India which had said that the local lawyers' body in Kathua had not obstructed the police or the counsel of the victim's family. It also supported their demand for a CBI probe in the matter.

The body of the girl, from a nomadic minority community, was found in Rasana forest on 17 January, a week after she went missing while grazing horses in the forest area.

On 23 January, the government had handed over the case to the crime branch of the Jammu and Kashmir Police which formed a Special Investigation Team and arrested eight people, including two Special Police Officers (SPOs) and a head constable.

Jammu has been tense since the brutal rape and murder of the girl.