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Srinagar, Aug 17 (UNI) Senior IAS officer Mohammad Iqbal Khanday, one of the accused in the sex scandal, was today granted bail by a local court here after a detention of about 50 days.

Pricipal District Session Judge, Srinagar Mohammad Yaqub Mir granted bail to Khanday on medical grounds and asked him to deposit a surety of Rs one lakh.

He is the first among more than 15 accused, arrested by the CBI in connection with the sex scandal, to have been granted bail.

His bail was earlier rejected by the court of Chief judicial Magistrate, Srinagar Mohammad Yousuf Akhoon.

The court had also constituted a medical board to examine Khanday, who was arrested by the CBI on June 29, The CBI has so far arrested several top politicians, civil, police and paramilitary officials in connection with the sex racket.

Among those arrested were former Jammu and Kashmir ministers and sitting legislators Ghulam Ahmed Mir and Raman Mattoo, Principal Secretary in the Planning and Development Department Iqbal Khanday, sacked state Additional Advocate General Anil Sethi, BSF DIG K C Padhi, Jammu and Kashmir Police DSP Mohammad Ashraf Mir, J&K Police Counter-Insurgency Kashmir (CIK) wing DSP Mohammad Yousuf Mir and Naaz Hotel owner Riyaz Kawa.

Mir, a former Minister of State for Roads and Buildings and a Congress legislator from Dooru in Anantnag district, was arrested by the CBI from the Jammu and Kashmir House at Chanakyapuri in New Delhi on June 20.

Mattoo, a former Minister of State for Industries and Commerce and an independent legislator from Habba Kadal in Srinagar, was also arrested by the CBI from his residence at Gupkar here on June 20.

The DIG BSF had surrendered before the CBI here on June 7 while Sethi, who was evading arrest since a proclamation notice was issued against him on June 14 by CJM following a request by the CBI, also surrendered in a local court at Jammu on June 21.

Khanday, an IAS officer of 1978 batch, had served in several top positions, including the Principal Secretary to former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and was the first person from the Valley to have qualified in the Civil Services examination.

On the same day, the CBI also arrested Kawa from the Jammu airport. Both were arrested under section five of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.

On June 30, the agency sleuths arrested CIK DSP Mir from his office at Hari Niwas here.

The sex racket case was handed over to the CBI by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on May one following allegations that politicians, bureaucrats besides senior police and paramilitary officials were involved in the scandal.

As soon as the scandal surfaced, massive demonstrations erupted in the entire Kashmir valley and the angry protestors brought down the houses of alleged sex racket kingpin Sabeena at Habba Kadal in the old city on June 5.

On May three, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court took a suo motu cognisance of the case and then on May 12 admitted a public interest litigation filed by the Kashmir Bar Association.

Since then, the High Court has been is hearing the sex racket case and monitoring the investigations by the CBI.

UNI AG MQA ND1718