8 leaders arrested, 11 buses seized
PS employees block Tawi bridge

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 14: Over 20 persons including cops and employees of Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) received injuries when police resorted to lathicharge and fired tear-gas shells to disperse agitating public sector employees who had blocked traffic at ever-busy Tawi Bridge. Eight SRTC employee leader were later arrested by the police.

The public sector employees were staging dharna to lodge protest against failure of the State Government to accept their long pending demands including payment of COLA, pending for the last three years.

Earlier, in response to the two days strike call given by the different associations of the public sector employees, a large number employees gathered at Bikarm Chowk and took out a procession. Shouting slogans against State Government for, what they alleged, meting out step-motherly treatment with public sector employees, the protestors marched towards Tawi Bridge.

A group of the striking employees of State Road Transport Corporation also joined the process. The striking employees later staged a dharna in the middle of the Tawi Bridge and disrupted the vehicular traffic for more than two hours. SRTC employees also parked some buses on the Tawi Bridge to disrupt the traffic

Senior police and traffic police officers rushed to the spot and tried to lift the dharna but in vain. As the employees were adamant to continue their dharna on Tawi bridge, police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protestors. Police also fired some tear-gas shells.

Following the lathicharge and firing of tear-gas shell, the striking employees dispersed from the scene but some employees of SRTC regrouped in SRTC Yard and resorted to slogan shouting. The police personnel chasing the employees again resorted to lathicharge and tear-gassing to disperse them. Police also fired some tear-gas shells in SRTC Yard.

Talking to EXCELSIOR, some SRTC employees alleged that police beat-up some innocent employees who had nothing to do with dharna. They alleged that tear-gas shells were fired on those who were sitting in the Yard since morning.

Over twenty people received injuries in lathicharge. In the melee 10 police personnels were also injured.

A police spokesman told EXCELSIOR in the evening that 11 buses belonging to State Road Transport Corporation have been seized and eight leaders of the employees were also arrested. Seized SRTC buses were taken to Police Lines.

It is worthwhile to mention here that public sector employees have given a two days strike call to lodge protest against failure of the State Government to accept their long pending demands which included release of Cost Of Living Allowance (COLA) and pending 17 percent Dearness Allowance.

MLAs come to blows amid walk-outs
Pandemonium in Assembly over defence deal scam

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 14: Pandemonium prevailed in the Legislative Assembly almost throughout the session today with entire Opposition minus BJP resorting to protests in the House and walk-outs against involvement of NDA politicians and bureaucrats in corruption. At one time, two BJP and Congress (I) members virtually came to blows and were separated by other legislators.

Speaker Abdul Ahad Vakil, meanwhile, fixed his ruling for tomorrow (after Question Hour) on an adjournment motion moved by Panthers Party member Harshdev Singh for a discussion on ‘defence deal scam’ . "Give me time to read the rule books whether I have a right to admit the adjournment motion", he said, adding he will announce his ruling tomorrow.

BJP member Piara Singh and Congress (I) legislator Ashok Sharma virtually came to blows when latter continued shouting ‘Bangaru Laxman hai hai’ . Sharma shouted slogans when NC member from Kupwara Saifullah Mir was criticising NDA Government for its alleged step-motherly treatment with Jammu and Kashmir during his budget speech.

Continued sloganeering by Sharma provoked Piara Singh, who gave up his seat and marched towards Sharma. Heated exchanged took place between the both and both were about to exchange blows when they were separated by NC chief whip Mubarak Gul and Lal Singh (Cong-I).

Earlier, uproarious scenes started in the House as soon as it assembled at 0930 hours today and Speaker announced commencement of Question Hour. All four Congress (I) members, who were present in the House at that time, were on their feet and started shouting slogans against NDA Government.

Chowdhary Lal Singh, Balbir Singh, Chering Dorje and Ashok Sharma marched to well of the House and indulged in sloganeering like ‘NDA Government Hai Hai’. After protesting in the House for a couple of minutes, all four Congmen staged a walk-out of the House and held a dharna outside the Assembly.

Outside the House also, all four legislators attacked NDA Government for what they called ‘compromise with security and integrity of the country’.

Furore prevailed in the House for the second time after Question Hour when all Opposition members (except BJP) were again on their feet and trooped into well of the House indulging in massive sloganeering. Only ‘hai hai’ and ‘murdabad’ could be heard in the din, which persisted for about three minutes.

Members, who trooped into well, including all four Congress (I) MLAs, Sheikh Abdul Rehman, Som Nath and Sagar Chand (BSP), Mohd Yusuf Tarigami (CPM) and Harshdev Singh (Panthers Party). A Cong member was heard asking treasury benches to give a statement in the House on the ground that National Conference was also a part and parcel of NDA Government.

After sloganeering, all protesting members excepting Harshdev Singh walked-out of the House. Congress (I) and CPM members continued slogan shouting even in well of the House.

Speaker Abdul Ahad Vakil told House that he has received a notice of adjournment motion on the issue and will give his ruling, whether to admit or reject it, tomorrow morning after the Question Hour.

Harshdev Singh, however, insisted that he should be allowed to speak on the subject today itself as he had also given a separate notice under Rule 414. He staged a walk-out from the House when he was not allowed to speak.

BJP Legislature Party leader Lala Shiv Charan Gupta put up a strong defence for NDA Government saying the money was taken by Bangaru Laxman for party funds after giving a proper receipt. He said it was Congress, which gave only corruption to the State in its last 50 years rule.

Officers cause Rs 600 Cr loss to exchequer
Backdoor appointments continue in violation of
Cabinet, S C orders

From Ahmed Ali Fayaz

SRINAGAR, Mar 14: Even as the National Conference Government has been claiming to have provided State employment to over 90,000 youths, brazen violation of recuitment rules and regulations has become a marked feature in Jammu & Kashmir. The political executive has not only flouted the set norms but also shown little regard for its own Cabinet orders and clear-cut directions of the country’s highest judicial forum during the last four years.

Going by the official statistics, barely 16,000 incumbents have been appointed in regular Government service on the basis of the selection made by State Subordinate Services Recuitment Board (SSSRB) and the State Public Service Commission (PSC) since October 1996. Legislators have been raking up the issue of 125-odd appointments, purportedly made by General Administration Department (GAD) "in relaxation of rules and norms", but few have asked a question as to how thousands of influential incumbents have sneaked into the bankrupt State Government’s regular services inspite of the Cabinet ban on engagement of daily-wagers and so-called casual labourers since April 1994, over 50,000 youngsters—and even elders— have been appointed in the category during the last seven years. About 40,000 of these individuals—who attend their offices on the salary day—have received their orders of engagement during the last four years. Having allowed and promoted multiplication of the so-called daily-wagers without lifting the ban, the Cabinet has finally decided to disengage all those persons appointed in violation of the erstwhile State Administrative Council (SAC) ban. Official sources admit that expenditure of a whopping Rs 100 Crore a year is currently incurred on these 50,000 daily-wagers and on account of their wages alone the State exchequer has suffered loss of Rs 600 Crore since 1994.

During the President’s rule, SAC had stopped engagement of daily-wagers with the objective of regularising the services of all those individuals who completed seven years of their "service" without break. Later the State Government decided to grant five-year relaxation to the persons who volunteered to conduct the elections in 1996.

While the process of engaging the daily-wagers remained unabated, thousands of those who had been legitimately engaged are still waiting for their regularisation. On the other hand, officers regularised the services of hundreds of such people who had neither completed seven years nor participated in conducting of the polls. As everybody knows it well in the State, the fudged amount of arrears drawn from treasuries was retained by most of the officers as "commission". There are numerous examples how even teen-agers were shown as having completed seven years of "service" and regularised fraudulently.

Finance ministry has finally prevailed upon the Government and the Cabinet has approved disengagement of the illegally appointed daily-wagers but, significantly, no action has been mooted against the officers responsible for violating the ban. At least two Treasury Officers disclosed to EXCELSIOR that even after the recent Cabinet decision, heads of departments (HoDs) have allocated funds for the salary component of unauthorised daily-wagers to the drawing and disbursing officers (DDOs). A Chief Engineer of Power Development Department (PDD), who has himself appointed over 100 daily-wagers during the last three months on the unauthorised recommendations of Minister of State for Power, has categorically directed the Executive Engineers to disburse the wages of casual labourers.

Fearing termination of engagement, most of the daily-wagers insist that they have been appointed against "cash payment" ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000. "Rather than disengaging us summarily, the Cabinet must order payment of our salaries by debit to the officers who have grabbed our money and engaged us without fraudulently", suggested a casual labourer. He threatened that the disengaged incumbents would assemble and "expose all cheats".

As regards the non-gazetted appointments, around 3000 persons were taken into Class-IV service by some ministers through their HoDs in 1997-98. The appointing officers claimed their own lion’s share. However, when the number of jobless, entitled to Government service under SRO-43, inflated, the Cabinet imposed ban on all Class-IV appoinments and asked the GAD and Deputy Commissioners to appoint all those incumbents whose relatives had died in militancy-related incidents.

Notwithstanding the fact that at least 4,000 Class-IV posts fall vacant due to the routine retirement and other factors every year, more than 3,000 files of SRO-43 are still pending with the Government. There are numerous examples of the cases which have remained untouched for the last six to eight years. On the other hand, officers violated the Cabinet order and over 5,000 unauthorised Class-IV appointments are estimated to have been made during the last three years.

Three Deputy Commissioners said, rather candidly, that the Government lacked political will to clear all SRO-43 cases in one go. They revealed that the HODs succeeded in misleading the Chief Minister that there were no vacancies for recruitment of the incumbents under SRO-43. Consequently, Dr Farooq Abdullah declared on the floor of the Assembly last year that his Government had decided to provide ex gratia of Rs 500,000 to the victims of turbulance instead of the existing system of Rs 100,000 in cash and a Government job. However, the Cabinet did not issue such an order till date.

Well-placed sources in the Government disclosed that over 3000 cases under SR-43 were gathering dust while as the officers had clandestinely filled up about 5,000 Class-IV vacancies after the Cabinet ban on such free-for-all recruitments. They claimed that till date there were no instructions to the DDOs and Treasury Officers to freeze the vacancies created due to retirements, promotions, resignations and death of the Class-IV employees. In case the government would have necessary will to clear the backlog, HODs and District Officers would have been made responsible to refer the vacancies to GAD and DCs and the Treasury Officers would have been directed not to disburse the salaries of any officials appointed through backdoor.

Agitation to continue
Talks on open choice with college students deadlocked

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 14: Today’s scheduled meeting amongst college students, Jammu University authorities and district administration to find out some amicable solution over the issue of open choice in forthcoming annual degree examinations, did not yield any result and ended in a deadlock.

The students turned down the suggestion of extra classes to get their syllabi completed and announced to continue the agitation till open choice was granted. They also opposed any delay in examination dates and declaration of the result.

The meeting was held at the Police Control Room and attended by JU Dean Academic Affairs Prof A N Sadhu, Deputy Commissioner Jammu Mr R K Goyal and SSP Jammu Mr R R Swain. Registrar Jammu University Prof Zahur-ud-Din, who was scheduled to attend the meet, could not arrive in view of ongoing preparations for the University convocation while college principals had not been called despite an assurance by Mr Goyal to students about their inclusion in the meet.

Prof Sadhu sought to justify University stand and said that granting of open choice for consecutive fourth academic year may result into derecognisation of JU degree by the University Grants Commission. However, when asked by college students whether there was any clause in UGC statute about derecognisation of degree if open choice is granted for four consecutive academic years in a University, Prof Sadhu replied in negative.

The suggestion that college syllabi can be completed by taking extra classes, was also rejected by the students who claimed that they can not attend additional classes and make preparations for the annual examination at the same time. They further pleaded that any delay in conducting examinations and result declaration will bar the students from appearing in competitive entrance tests.

Vociferous Ajit Khosla and some other distinction holder students strongly pleaded their case before Prof Sadhu and stressed that there was no option other than granting open choice and further claimed that it will neither harm Jammu University reputation nor the career of students.

Prof Sadhu, however, expressed his inability to concede students’ demand and again suggested them to join the classes and get their syllabi completed. The repeated pleas against open choice agitated the students who said that in view of the adamant attitude by JU authorities, there was no need of holding such meetings. They announced to continue the agitation till the open choice was granted.

The meeting was attended by Vinay Sharma, Binder Paul Singh Romy, Harmeek Singh Pinchu, Kiran Malhotra (presidents of GGM Science College, MAM College, SPMR College, GCW Parade, respectively), Arvind Raina, Divya Gupta, Guru and Lucky.

BJP flays concessions
NC favours prohibition in entire country

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 14: Ruling National Conference today called for prohibition in the entire country and appealed to BJP legislators in Assembly to take up the issue with Central Government.

The issue was raised by Education Minister Mohd Shaffi while intervening in the budget speech of BJP Legislature Party leader Lala Shiv Charan Gupta.

Commenting on large scale concessions given to liquor lobby by Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather in the budget, Lala (pointing towards Shaffi and Rather) said :"khud to yeh peete naheen, doosron ko peelate hain" (they don’t consume liquor themselves but ask others to do so).

Raising a point of explanation, Shaffi asserted that he was on record having said that liquor was mother of all problems and sins. However, the experiment of prohibition by the states of Andhra Pradesh and Haryana has failed, he pointed out and appealed to BJP MLAs to take up the issue with Central Government to impose prohibition in the entire country.

"Our Government will be the first to follow Central Government decision of prohibition, whenever it is taken", Shaffi said.

In his speech, Lala Shiv Charan Gupta recalled that the State Government has assured ban on liquor in response to a resolution brought by him in the Assembly earlier. Instead, he regretted, the Government has flooded Jammu with liquor and liquor shops.

Even the Government has given more concession to liquor manufacturers in the new budget, which was not a right thing to do, Gupta said and lamented the budget provisions.

He also had a dig at Congress (I) saying their Government made people ‘sharabi’ (drunkards) for the last 50 years. This was the reason that strength of Congress (I) has come down from 400 to 110, he said.

BJP, BSP stages walk out
What is Tehlka.Com ?: NC

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 14: Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) members today staged a walk out in Assembly during the Question Hour when Ch Chuni Lal of BJP and Sagar Chand of BSP said that appropriate reply has not come from the Government to their question.

The BJP member wanted to know whether it is a fact that the Government is considering to confer the property rights to refugees of 1965 and 1971 from Chamb area and when will these rights be conferred on them.

Replying him, Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation, Mr Abdul Qayoom said the property rights to the Chamb refugees have been conferred in April last year. But the member insisted that the Chamb refugees have still been deprived of these rights .

He was supported by his Party colleague Ch Piara Singh as also Som Nath and Sagar Chand of BSP who said that these refugees have still been left high and dry as they have not been conferred the rights till date.

The Minister asked them to clear that which refugees have been left. On this the members said that instead of giving appropriate reply the Minsiter was beating about the bush and they all walked out of the House in protest.

As Chuni Lal and other opposition members were arguing with the Minister, the members of NC including Mir Saifullah and Shafi Bhat shouted what is Tehlka Dot Com "yeh Tehlka Dot Com kya hai".

Meanwhile, the Speaker Mr Abdul Ahad Vakil today issued a directive to the Government to give a detailed statement in the House on drought situation.

The Speaker, who made an intervention during the question of Sheikh Abdul Rehman, said it is an important issue and the Government should give a statement on it in the House and inform the members about the plans prepared by the Government to contain the situation.

Earlier, replying to supplementaries of Sheikh Abdul Rehman of BSP and Bali Bhagat of BJP Mr Abdul Qayoom said that Government has given directives to Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu to chalk out an action plan to tackle the impending threat of drought in the State.

He said the Divisional Commissioners have been asked to arrange special Girdawari as I think that entire Rabi crop has been damaged in Jammu division, he added.

In his supplementary, Sheikh Rehman wanted to know whether the state Government has prepared a disaster management plan to tackle the drought, especially in his home district of Doda which was hit for the past three years by drought and now there is scarcity of even drinking water.

The Minister said out of Rs 22.5 crore sanctioned for drought hit people in the entire Kashmir valley and Doda district last year. Rs 2.22 crore were sanctioned for Doda district for employment generation as a relief package.

Time ripe for talks: Musharraf

ISLAMABAD, Mar 14: Claiming a thaw in relations between India and Pakistan, military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf said today time was right for the two countries to resume dialogue to resolve differences over Kashmir and other bilateral issues.

Addressing the delegates of Pakistan Development Forum (PDF), a conglomerate of international financial institutions and donor agencies, Musharraf said he was of the view that the window of opportunity provided by the recent thaw in relations between the two countries could be used to make further progress.

Stating that the "ball is in Indian court", the military ruler said this was the right time to initiate a meaningful dialogue on Kashmir and all other issues.

Musharraf outlined the steps taken by Pakistan to initiate dialogue with India to defuse tensions in the region, an official release said.

He said steps taken by Pakistan to initiate confidence building measures with India included, observance of maximum restraint by Pakistan troops at the Line of Control (LoC), in response to Indian ceasefire in Kashmir, partial withdrawal of troops from the borders, despatch of relief materials by Pakistan for victims of Gujarat earthquake in addition to his repeated offers of dialogue with India.

The PDF forum has been holding a series of meetings here to extend financial aid to Pakistan to repay its 38 billion dollar debt.

The PDF delegates representing several countries, IMF, World Bank and other international donar agencies demanded a road map by Musharraf Government to restore democracy in the country and speedy implementation of political and economic reforms.

The military regime should restore democracy on priority basis to rebuild the confidence in the Government policies, they said.

In order to ally fears of the delegates Gen Musharraf spoke at length about various measures taken by his Government in the area of fiscal reform, poverty alleviation, civil service restructuring, good governance and improvement in public corporations. (PTI)

NC seeks extensive probe, supports Govt

NEW DELHI, Mar 14: The National Conference tonight sought a thorough inquiry into the allegations levelled in the video expose by a Delhi-based website and asked the Centre to leave "no stone unturned" in exposing the guilty.

Pledging full support to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government, parliamentary party of the National Conference said "a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe or an enquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge should be ordered so that truth prevails."

Minister of State for Commerce and Industries Omar Abdullah said it was decided in the party meeting, chaired by Ali Mohammed Naik, that a comprehensive probe will only expose the truth behind the clandestinely shot video footage.

Expressing satisfaction over the suspension of senior army and civil officials, Omar said "this shows the commitment of the Government to weed out corruption completely".

"Government is committed for a discussion on the floor of House and even order an inquiry to probe the entire allegations," contained in the film. (PTI)

Krishnamurthi appointed BJP acting president

NEW DELHI, Mar 14: The BJP today appointed its vice president Jana Krishnamurthi as the acting president of the party in place of Bangaru Laxman, who resigned yesterday.

Laxman, who was filmed accepting money in a fictitious defence deal, resigned last night after a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Central office bearers of the party, which met here for an hour, discussed Laxman’s resignation letter and unanimously decided to accept it with immediate effect, party general secretary Narendra Modi told reporters.

A statement issued by the BJP said, "the meeting considered the letter from Laxman addressed to Jana Krishnamurthi, vice president, offering to step down from the office of president of the party pending inquiry. The meeting unanimously decided to accept the resignation with immediate effect.

"The meeting also decided that Jana Krishnamurthi, vice president, will be the acting president to head the party," the statement said.

Replying to a question, Modi said Krishnamurthi’s appointment was "a permanent arrangement as necessary changes in the party’s constitution would be made in due course."

This would affect the party’s programmes including the national executive which was scheduled to meet in Kolkata on March 30 and 31, he said "all BJP programmes would be held as scheduled."

Asked whether it was unethical on the part of Laxman accepting money, Modi said, "all political parties accept money."

Justifying the resignation by Laxman, Modi said Home Minister L K Advani had resigned from Lok Sabha after he was chargesheeted in hawala case. It was party’s principle that whosoever was charged in any scandal should quit his post "as no party member would like to lower the image of the party or the nation," he added.

The meeting, chaired by Krishnamurthi, was attended by Kushabhau Thakre, Pyare Lal Khandelwal, Madan Lal Khurana, Narendra Modi, Maya Singh, Sanghpriya Gautam, Karia Munda, Ram Nath Govind, Dalpat Singh Praste, M S Usmani, Ashwini Kumar, Chaatrapal Singh, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Ram Kripal Sinha.

Criticising the Congress for attacking BJP office in the wake of the expose of corruption by a portal, Modi said it should not adopt undemocratic path but pursue parliamentary practices and allow a debate in Parliament without disrupting the proceedings.

The opposition was bent upon destabilising the democratic procedure for "their own political ends", he said adding "we will not allow them to do so." (PTI)

125 Indian pilgrims die during Haj

DUBAI, Mar 14: A total of 125 Indian pilgrims died during Haj pilgrimage this year that concluded in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia last week, according to Indian consulate in Jeddah.

Of this, 121 died of natural causes and old age, while three were killed in a stampede during the "stoning of the devil" ritual and one died in an accident.

The Indian pilgrims who died during the Haj were buried at the cemetery at Mecca according to wishes of the relatives of the dead, embassy officials said.

Two million devout Muslims performed Haj this year of which 1.2 lakh came from India.

Of this 72,000 came through the Central Haj Committee while the rest were brought by private tour operators.

A central Haj delegation led by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah visited Saudi Arabia during the Haj to ascertain steps to be taken for proper performance of Haj without mishaps.

The Government is likely to impose restrictions on the number of pilgrims brought by private operators to ensure that pilgrims do not face inconvenience after landing in the kingdom. (PTI)

Total tax mop up dips

NEW DELHI, Mar 14: Despite a buoyant Income Tax mop, total revenue collections dipped by 0.55 per cent in February, 2001, due to a sharp 17 per cent fall in customs collections.

However, the total tax collection during April-February this fiscal increased by 11.67 per cent to Rs 1,55,198 crore as compared to Rs 1,38,979 crore during the same period of 1999-2000.

The positive growth in the overall tax collections were due to a 27 per cent rise in the direct tax collections, which stood at Rs 49,941 crore during April-February, as against Rs 39,357 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Indirect tax collections, however, languished posting a meagre 5.66 per cent growth at Rs 1,05,257 crore till February, 2001, as against Rs 99,622 crore last year.

The total Income Tax collections were at Rs 24,467 crore, which is 33 per cent higher than last year’s level of Rs 18,405 crore during April-February last fiscal, while corporation tax collections went up by 23.75 per cent to Rs 25,062 crore, the release said.

On the indirect tax front, total collections from excise duties grew by 9.9 per cent to Rs 59,509 crore in the eleven months as against Rs 54,148 crore last fiscal.

Total customs collection till February were at Rs 42,619 crore, which is 0.57 per cent lower than previous year’s level of Rs 42,863 crore. (PTI)

Speaker to give ruling today
NC MLA moves adjournment motion on special powers

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 14: A National Conference MLA Abdul Gani Naseem has moved an adjournment motion in the Assembly regarding issuance of a notification by Centre Government on Armed Forces Special Powers Act under which entire Kashmir valley and parts of Poonch and Rajouri districts have been declared as disturbed and ‘sweeping powers’ given to forces.

Speaker Abdul Ahad Vakil told the House that he has received adjournment motion from Naseem that whether the notification has been issued by the Centre Government on its own or with the consent of State Government and if State’s consent has been taken the House should have been informed as legislature was in session.

And if the Centre has issued notification on its own, then it was violation of the Constitution, the adjournment motion said, describing the issue as very sensitive as blunt powers have been given to security forces.

Speaker said he has taken note of the adjournment motion and will give his ruling whether to admit or reject it after the Question Hour tomorrow.

CPM member Mohd Yusuf Tarigami said even if J&K Government’s consent hasn’t been taken, the Government should make a statement in the House.

Later, Naseem was seen discussing the issue with acting Chief Minister Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Shah.

Speaker, however, said there were certain areas where the State Government or legislators can’t intervene at all. BSP Legislature Party leader Sheikh Abdul Rehman said it was an issue or morality as NC was part and parcel of NDA Government.

CBI agrees to hold prove into Meenakshi case

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Mar 14: The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) has accepted the request of State Government to conduct an inquiry into Meenakshi kidnapping case.

The request was accepted after DGP A K Suri visited New Delhi. A CBI team, headed by an SP would be reaching here within the next two days. A notification of inquiry was issued today by the CBI headquarters.

Meanwhile, statement of Meenakshi was recorded today by a Judge in Udhampur. The statement was recorded in 28 pages and it took more than five hours.

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