Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Sept 29: A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court, Chandigarh, while giving benefit of doubt to former Minister, MLA and a senior bureaucrat in the infamous 2006 Srinagar sex scandal case, acquitted them today.
The CBI Special Judge, Vimal Kumar, acquitted former Minister Raman Mattoo, present MLA and former Minister Ghulam Ahmed Mir and Principal Secretary Finance Iqbal Khandey, along with alleged kingpin of the sex scam Sabeena and her husband Abdul Hamid as the central agency failed to prove the allegations against them.
CBI counsel R K Handa told reporters in Chandigarh that the Court gave benefit of doubt to all the three, as the witnesses/victims “turned hostile deliberately by giving false statements”.
Handa, said that the victims in their statements before the Magistrate had alleged that they were exploited by the accused. “The victims had even showed the investigating agency the house and the room where they were exploited but in their statement before the trail court they turned hostile. The court gave benefit of doubt to the accused and acquitted them”, he added.
Handa said that the court also acquitted alleged kingpin of the sex scam Sabeena and her husband Abdul Hamid, accused of running a brothel.
The accused, who were facing charges of exploiting women in lieu of jobs were under trial under Section 5 of Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act (PITA). The accused were present in the court when the acquittal order was pronounced.
Ghulam Ahmed Mir was accused of sexually exploiting women. Two women have accused him of exploiting them. One accused him for exploiting her after she met him to get her husband acquitted of charges of being absconding terrorist. The other woman claimed Mir forcibly had sex in lieu of a job. He was being charged under Section 5 (procuring, inducing person for sale for the purpose of prostitution) of Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act (PITA).
Raman Mattoo was accused of sexually exploiting girls when they approached him for jobs. He was charged under PITA. Iqbal Khandey was charged under Section 5 of PITA. Sabeena was charged with forcing girls into prostitution and supplying them to politicians and police officials. She allegedly ran a brothel from her Srinagar house. She has been charged under Section 3, 5 of PITA and 120 B.
Sabeena’s husband, Abdul Hamid was married to Sabeena in 2000 and began allegedly forcing girls into prostitution and supplying them. He had been charged with Section 3, 4, 5 along with section 120 B.
There was no FIR or complaint as such against the accused. As per the CBI three women had alleged being sexually exploited by the accused. But during the trial they denied having made any such allegations against the accused.
CBI had accused them of procuring sex workers but all the alleged victims of sexual exploitation in their statement before the court had denied that they are sex workers.
The Srinagar sex scandal surfaced in March 2006 after a porn MMS was doing rounds in the State. People took to streets and raised to rubble the rented house of Sabeena, who was alleged kingpin of the scandal.
Jammu and Kashmir Police filed a case and started investigating during which it was revealed that Sabeena the alleged kingpin was supplying girls to various official in State machinery. Only one of the victims is minor. Later the case was handed over to CBI.
The sex scam, that shook the State and forced the lawyers not to appear for the defence of the accused. The case was transferred to Chandigarh. Evidence process continued for over three years in Chandigarh sessions court and later, the case was transferred to CBI special court in October 2010.
There were 14 accused in the sex scam include, former Minister Ghulam Ahmed Hassan Mir, independent MLA and former Minister Raman Mattoo, BSF DIG K C Padhi, former Additional Advocate General Anil Sethi, DSP Mohammad Ashraf Mir, Iqbal Khandey, hotel owner Riyaz Ahmed Kawa, Sabeena, the alleged kingpin of the sex racket, her husband Abdul Hamid Shabir Langoo, middlemen Shabir Ahmed Laway alias Shabir Kala, Mehraj-ud-din Malik, Masood Ahmed, Mohammad Yusuf Mir and Abdul Hamid Bullah.
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