No official communication on murder charge, says HP Police

Chamba, Oct 9 (UNI) The Himachal Pradesh Police today denied reports in a section of a press that Jammu and Kashmir Police had officially communicated to them the involvement in a murder case of five of the 64 people who had crossed over to Himachal.

''Reports that we have been informed about the involvement of five people in the murder of a villager in Jammu and Kashmir are false,'' DIG Northern Range) P L Thakur told UNI over the telephone here.

According to media reports, the five, members of Village Defence Committees, had ''accidentally'' gunned down a youth on May 17, earlier this year, after mistaking him to be a militant and escaped from their Sawara village following tension between the communities.

Mr Thakur said, however, media reports from the other side of the border have said that five of the 64 people staying at Tarela in Chamba district of the state were involved in the ''accidental murder'' of a villager.

Neither Doda district SP Mohammad Arif Rishu, who was recently in Chamba district to persuade these people to return to their village, nor other officials accompanying him have communicated any murder charge against any one of them, he said.

He said the state police would not interfere, in case, the involvement of anyone of them was proved in the murder.

Referring to talks between the Jammu and Kashmir officials and people who had taken shelter here, Mr Thakur said they have expressed a desire to return back to their villages pending fulfillment of some of the demands.

Besides an improved law and order situation in that state, they were also demanding a through investigation in the murder case in which five of them were being named by the media, he said.

The DIG said another team of senior Jammu and Kashmir officials was likely to visit Tarela village soon to persuade these people to return back to their village and state.

UNI AS DP VD RN1814