Court asks CBI not to leak Shopian probe details

SRINAGAR - The Jammu and Kashmir High Court Wednesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not to share details of its probe into the rape and murder of two women near Shopian with the media but reveal it only to the court.

The CBI should not reveal anything to the press about the investigations part of the Shopian case and should present status reports to the court,” a division bench of Chief Justice Barin Ghosh and Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir observed.

The bench was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), in which the local bar association is a party.

CBI counsel assured the bench that details of the investigation would be divulged only to the court through reports.

Nilofar Jan, 22, and her sister-in-law Asiya, Jan 17, were raped and murdered and their bodies were found near Shopian town of north Kashmir May 30. Villagers have alleged that security personnel had committed the crime.

The court strictures came after reports in a section of the media Wednesday that quoted forensic experts as saying that one of the victims died a virgin.

After the probe was handed over to the CBI, the two bodies were exhumed from the Shopian graveyard this week and forensic experts collected samples from the bodies.

Meanwhile, the bar association moved an application before the court saying it was dissociating itself from the PIL.

Bar association president Mian Qayoom said: The CBI was selectively leaking misinformation about the Shopian case to the media to mess it up.”

The court fixed Oct 13 as the next day of hearing and observed that it would continue to monitor the investigations till the mystery was solved.