J&K Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beig breaks his silence on the sex scandal case.
J&K Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beig breaks his silence on the sex scandal case.
SRINAGAR: Shaken by the sex scandal involving two former ministers and senior police officials, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beig on Wednesday said, "Some powerful people involved in the case are trying to derail the investigation."
Beig broke his silence after reports surfaced that the government, led by People’s Democratic Party, hushed up the case in 2004.
The deputy chief minister said that even DGP Gopal Sharma told him that the sex scandal case was an ordinary case blown out of proportion. "Some powerful people are trying to create confusion by floating fake lists and names just to scuttle the probe," Beig said.
After being told that the scandal was an ordinary case by senior officials, Beig said, "Then I wrote a letter to Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad urging him to order a CBI probe so that the people involved are brought to justice."
Beig also said that Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, who is accused of inaction in 2004, was not informed by the police about the sensitivity of the matter.
"What has triggered a controversy was the case under FIR No 82/2004. Sabina, the kingpin of this scandal, surfaced for the first time in this FIR. Later a PIL was also filed by Kashmir Bar Association in the high court alleging that 37 prostitution centres were running in the city. All the records and case dairies were submitted to the court and judgment is reserved for the last one year. This is the case summary and where does the hushing up come," said Mufti.
However Beig said if there was a cover up then the same people who are scuttling the case now are the ones who should be held accountable. "Mufti Sayeed was not informed. Even Ghulam Nabi Azad was not informed. He read it in newspapers and then action followed," Beig said.
Asked why the action was not taken against those "influential people", Beig said the case is now sub judice and CBI is probing the matter.
Beig also said two SPs were attached because their names appeared in the media and the attachment was an administrative action not punishment.
Beig also clarified that prostitution is illegal in Kashmir. He said the rules of 1921 legalising prostitution were repealed when Prevention of Illegal Trafficking Act (PITA) was enacted in 1963. He said that the state government is contemplating legislation that will have stringent clauses.
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