Pandits welcome HC decision in Mattoo case

New Delhi, July 28 (UNI) The Kashmiri Pandits in the city have expressed their happiness over Delhi High Court accepting CBI plea for early hearing of Priyadarshini Mattoo rape and murder case.

''The wheels of justice have finally moved. It should move unstoppable till the guilty is booked,'' said Rajesh Kaul, president of Jammu Kashmir Vichar Manch.

Speaking to UNI, Kaul, however, warned against any complacency saying, ''the protests will continue till the guilty is booked. We shall keep up the tempo.'' The Jammu Kashmir Vichar Manch and Kashmiri Pandits Welfare Association, Shalimar Garden, took to the streets in full strength near Buddha bazar road today protesting against ''justice being denied'' to the Mattoos.

Priyadarshini Mattoo, a law student of Delhi University, was raped and murdered allegedly by Santosh Singh, son of a former senior IPS officer J P Singh, in the mid 90s.

The case, which had vanished from the public memory, attracted media glare and public scrutiny after outcry over the controversial verdict in the Jessica Lal murder case.

Santosh was acquitted in the case on December 3, 1999. The order made a candid remark, ''I know he has killed her but will have to acquit in dearth of strong evidences against him.'' UNI SSS YA RS1913