Srinagar: Amid heightened security arrangements in Pathankot and Kathua, a special Court on Monday convicted six accused in the Kathua Rape and Murder Case.
The convicted include village head Sanji Ram, two special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma and Head constable Tilak Raj.
The other accused, Vishal, son of main accused Sanji Ram has been acquitted of all charges.
According to the SP operations of Punjab police for Pathankot, Manoj Thakur, over 300 police personnel have been deployed in and around the court complex.
The main accused in the case is village head and retired revenue officer Sanji Ram. Others arrested and charged in the case were his son Vishal, a “juvenile” nephew, his friend Anand Dutta and two special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surendra Verma. The two policemen were arrested over the destruction of evidence in the case.
Even as the verdict was pronounced, the nomadic Bakarwal community, including the parents of the murdered 8-year-old are en-route Kashmir with their cattle. “We have to move as per our own schedule. What will we do in court now,” the victim’s father said.
The in-camera trial in the case ended on June 3, following which District and Sessions Judge Tejwinder Singh announced that the verdict would be delivered today. Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place because of the high-profile nature of the case.
