The accused father-son duo in the Kathua murder-and-rape case was arrested on Tuesday.
“The mastermind of the Kathua case surrendered in the morning. His son he was also arrested from Uttar Pradesh. He was involved in the rape and murder of a minor girl,” Director General of Police, J&K, S.P. Vaid.
Sources said Sanji Ram, retired revenue official, who galvanised street support in favour of CBI investigation and also garnered BJP’s support, was the main accused, according to the police sources. The accused Ram’s son Vishal was also held.
A eight-year-old girl from a nomad community was kidnapped on January 10 from Kathua’s Hiranagar area and her body was found from a forest area on January 17, triggering street protests in Kashmir valley and parts of Jammu. Her family alleged that she was kidnapped, drugged, raped and murdered.
The police had arrested four policemen in the case so far, who were accused of “destroying evidences”. Another accused, who was initially thought to be 15-year-old and confessed to the crime, had been declared as 19-year-old by a medical board set up by the court.
