Sex racket accused shifted to Chandigarh from Srinagar

Srinagar, Sep 22 (UNI) The authorities have shifted all the 13 accused in the much-publicised sex racket case from the Central Jail here to a prison in Chandigarh for a hearing on their bail pleas by a local court there on September 25.

Central Jail Superintendent Dr Mohammad Sultan Lone said all the accused have been shifted to a jail in Chandigarh yesterday.

Among those arrested in the sex scandal are former Jammu and Kashmir ministers and sitting legislators Ghulam Ahmed Mir and Raman Mattoo, 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, Naaz Hotel manager Riyaz Kawa, sex racket kingpin Sabeena and her husband Abdul Hamid Billa.

Another accused, suspended Principal Secretary in the Planning and Development Department Mohammad Iqbal Khanday, was released by Principal Sessions Judge, Srinagar Mohammad Yaqoob Mir on an interim bail on medical grounds on August 17.

Hearing the case first time, Sessions Judge, Chandigarh B S Mehindiratta, had fixed September 25 as the next date of hearing into the scandal following a plea by the Jammu and Kashmir government that it could not shift the 13 accused due to security reasons.

On September 4, the Supreme Court had shifted the trial of 14 of the 18 accused to Chandigarh following a petition by them pleading for hearing on the bail applications by an court outside the state.

UNI AG PA KN1917