Beef row: Nine arrested, murder charges being framed against accused
Five accused have been booked under the State’s Public Safety Act
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir government has officially stated that Section 302 (murder) is being invoked in the case registered by police against all nine persons involved in the October 9 attack on a Valley-bound truck outside the Udhampur town. One of the two persons injured in the incident succumbed to his injuries in Delhi’s Safdarjang Hospital on Sunday.
Udhampur’s DC, Shahid Iqbal Chaudhary, said five accused have been booked under the State’s Public Safety Act (PSA). He added that with two more persons having been arrested, the number of people involved in the attack is nine.
The official said the district police submitted a dossier of 5 persons involved in the attack having a criminal history and several FIRs already lodged against them. “These persons have been booked for planning and executing a criminal conspiracy aiming at disturbing peace and public order in the State under a pre-designed and motivated plan,” an official spokesman said here.
He added that the Udhampur DC, after examining the dossiers and involvement of the accused in a series of criminal acts including the deadly attack with combustible material on the Kashmir bound truck, issued warrants for detention of the accused under the stringent PSA and lodging them in Central Jail.
“However, after the reports received by the police regarding the death of Zahid, the case will now be investigated and tried under Section 302 for murder”, he said. The "criminals" booked under PSA include Sandoor Singh, Danish alias Pamma, Harish Singh Katoch and Balbahadur Singh alias Abbu-all locals-and Varinder Singh alias Kaka, a resident of Nepal.
Four other accused persons who have been arrested are Jasbir Singh, Rahul Sharma, Suneet Singh and Rameshwar Singh alias Gushu-all locals. The accused were booked under various provisions of the State’s Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) and Section 3/5 of Explosives Substances Act.
"Further investigation in the matter was conducted which also revealed that apart from the instant criminal conspiracy aimed at disturbing peace and order in state they were involved in a series of criminal assaults and acts and a number of FIR lodged while many cases have been challaned,” the spokesman said.