CHANDIGARH Former DIG of the BSF and a former J&K police Deputy SP were among five persons held guilty by a special CBI court here today in the 2006 Jammu and Kashmir sex scandal.
Two other accused, including the then Additional Advocate General of J&K, were acquitted by the court of Judge Gagan Geet Kaur.
The quantum of sentence in the infamous case will be pronounced on June 4.
The sex racket hit the headlines in 2006, after police found an MMS and two VCDs showing sexual exploitation of a minor girl. The cops later arrested a local woman, Sabina, who then confessed to sending girls, including minors, to politicians, senior bureaucrats and policemen.
Nine different cases were registered and politicians, senior bureaucrats, police officers and businessmen were named in the chargesheet.
“The court has held five persons guilty in the scandal while two persons have been acquitted in this case,” said CBI prosecutor K P Singh.
Those convicted under section 376 of the Ranbir Penal Code are K C Padhi, a former deputy inspector general of the Border Security Force, and Mohammad Ashraf Mir, a former deputy superintendent of police in J&K.
Singh said the three others found guilty are Maqsood Ahmad, Shabir Ahmad Langoo and Shabir Ahmad Laway.
The court acquitted former additional AG Anil Sethi and Merajuddin Malik, the CBI prosecutor added.
Prime accused Sabeena and her husband Abdul Hamid Bulla, who allegedly ran a brothel, died during the trial.
During the investigation, J&K police had prepared a list of 56 suspects, including high-profile individuals, allegedly involved in the sex scandal.
Earlier, the same court had acquitted the two former Jammu and Kashmir ministers and a 1978-batch IAS officer Iqbal Khanday. Many witnesses turned hostile in the case.
In September 2006, the SC had transferred the case to Chandigarh sessions court from Jammu and Kashmir. The order to transfer the trial to Chandigarh came on a petition of 14 accused who contended that “no lawyer” in Srinagar was willing to defend them.
Later, the case was handed over to CBI after political groups raised doubts over the state government’s ability to investigate the racket. The J&K high court also took notice of media reports and ordered that the CBI investigation be monitored at the highest level of the state judiciary.
The case was shifted to the Central Bureau of Investigation in May 2006 after the names of some ministers also emerged. The Supreme Court transferred the case to a Chandigarh court later that year.
The then J&K chief minister Oman Abdullah submitted his resignation when his name was linked with this case.
However, the then J&K Governor N N Vohra had refused to accept his resignation.
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