Big blow to CBI in sex racket case as court releases accused

Srinagar, Oct 3 (UNI) In a major setback to the CBI, a local court today ordered the release of an accused in the much-publicised sex racket after the premier investigate agency failed to file charges or produce evidence against him.

Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Srinagar Mohammad Yousuf Akhoon ordered the release of Syed Altaf Hussain Rizvi, a government official, who was arrested by the CBI in connection with the sex scandal and had been lodged in the Central Jail here for the past two months.

The CBI was to file a chargesheet against the four accused in the case today. However, the agency could file charges against the three accused -- Aijaz Ahmed Bhat, Bilal Ahmed Shah and Absar Ahmed Bhat -- only and failed in the case of Rizvi.

The CBI later pleaded before the court to release Rizvi as it could not file charges against him.

The other three have been chargsheeted under section five of the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act.

With this, the CBI has so far chargsheeted 18 accused in the case. While 13 were shifted to a Chandigarh jail for trial in a local court there on the directions of the Supreme Court, senior IAS officer Mohammad Iqbal Khanday was released by a court here on interim bail on medical grounds.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, which is monitoring the investigations into the sex racket case, will tomorrow hear the arguments of the CBI after the agency submitted that it had completed the probe.

The CBI also submitted the case diaries to a division bench, comprising Justice Hakim Imtiyaz Hussain and Justice Bashir Ahmed Kirmani. The agency informed the bench that the probe into the sex scandal has been completed with the filing of chargesheet against some more people before the CJM, Srinagar.

The CBI had so far arrested 18 people, including 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 and sex racket kingpin Sabeena.

However, with Khanday on bail and Rizvi let off, only 16 accused are at present in the CBI custody.

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