Jammu

Kashmir Crime Branch

Vishal Kumar

During investigation in the rape and murder case of an eight-year-old girl, theandrecovered hair strands from Devistan temple in Hiranagar, Kathua.During the police interrogation, one of the accused revealed that the minor, who went missing on January 10 this year, was held captive inside the temple. Her body was found on seven days later on January 17. She was confined in the temple before being strangulated after rapeThe cops searched the crime site and the hair strands were found, which were sent to forensic laboratory in New Delhi. The forensics report confirmed on Tuesday that the hair belonged to the victim.The forensics report and the postmortem report also confirmed that the seductive medicine, Clonazepam, was used to unconscious the girl by the accused.An official of the crime branch said that after receiving the medical report, a charge sheet would be filed before the competent court of jurisdiction in next few days.The investigating agency has so far arrested nine people, including the mastermind Sanji Ram and his son, a police head constable, two SPOs and a sub-inspector of police in connection with the crime.Sanji Ram, a retired revenue officer, surrendered before the crime branch on March 20. The development came a day after his son Vishal Kumar was arrested from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, in connection with the case. Both father and son were evading arrest in connection with the gruesome rape and murder which send shock waves across the state. The FIR was lodged under section 363, 320, 376, 302 Ranbir Penal Code (RPC).The probe had revealed that it was not a random crime but part of a wider conspiracy to dislodge the Bakarwal community from the Rassana village in Kathua. Sanji Ram has been bent upon to dislodge the nomad community from Rassana village, the probe said.“The mastermind behind the entire game was bent upon dislodging the Bakarwal community and in order to execute the nefarious design, he hatched conspiracy (with others),” the SIT submitted in a status report before the high court last week.The minor girl had been missing since January 10 when she failed to return home from watering horses in her native Rassana forests.A day after her body was found, mass protests rocked the area. The Kathua police on January 18 said that a SIT, under SDPO border, had been set up to investigate the case.On January 20, the government transferred the Station House Officer of the Hiranagar police station, ordering a magisterial probe, and three days later, on January 23, handed the case over to the Crime Branch.