PDP buried sex scandal under carpet in 2004: J

Srinagar, May 15 (UNI) The Congress in Jammu and Kashmir today accused its alliance partner Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of giving a ''silent burial'' to the alleged sex racket in 2004.

''The insinuations and wild allegations from those who had conveniently swept the issue under the carpet in 2004, when the scandal first surfaced, could not detract anything from the courageous step of Mr Azad,'' state Congress General Secretary Abdul Majid Padder said in a statement here.

He questioned the moral authority of those who despite being at the helm of affairs brushed aside the case and gave a ''silent burial'' to the sex scandal then.

''Instead of whipping up passions on the issue now, they should have shown the courage and sincerity of purpose to get the matter investigated or referred to the CBI for an impartial investigation then...Who had stopped them?'' he asked.

''But, they were now making vociferous, unreasonable demands and fictitious conjectures in naming the people alleged to be involved,'' the Congress leader said.

Mr Padder termed as an ''honest and welcome step in the right direction'' Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's decision to hand over the investigation of the recently surfaced sex scandal to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The Congress leader said Mr Azad refused to budge under any political compulsions on this account and reaffirmed his government's resolve to bring the guilty to book.

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