J&K court asks police to register FIR against BJP leader

Srinagar: A court in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Anantnag district has asked the police to file an FIR against a local BJP leader and his accomplice accused of sexual exploitation and blackmailing of women.

Earlier a group of women (names withheld) had moved an application before the Judicial Magistrate (1st class) of Anantnag’s Kokernag area accusing BJP’s  Muhammad Sidiq Khan and another person Shahid Ahmed Bhat of subjecting them to sexual exploitation and blackmailing.

The court termed the allegations as serious and directed the concerned police stations to register an FIR against the accused. The court order reads that the complainants approached the Judicial Magistrate Kokernag with a prayer seeking direction for registration of FIR against the accused persons on the allegations of sexual exploitation and blackmailing.

The court observed that the nature and seriousness of the allegations of the commission of cognizable crime raised by the complainants against the accused persons need proper and thorough investigation to ascertain the facts. The police sources said that the concerned police stations have, while complying with the court orders, registered an FIR under the relevant provisions of the law and taken up investigations.