J-K sex scandal: Two witnesses turn hostile

“Two witnesses did not support the prosecution version in the court,” a CBI counsel said.

Both the witnesses told the court that they do not know the alleged kingpin Sabeena,a defence counsel said.

“The witnesses told the court that they were not sexually exploited by the alleged accused,” he said.

While one of the witness was a Special Police Officer (SPO) in Jammu and Kashmir,the other witness is a housewife. Both the witnesses are in their twenties.

The day-long in-camera proceedings in the case took place in the court of CBI special Judge Reetu Tagore and media was kept out of bounds.

The court fixed April 4 and 5 for further hearing in the case.

Earlier in January this year,two witnesses — a 25-year-old woman and a 45-year-old J-K woman police constable — turned hostile and gave a clean chit to the accused.

The sex scandal rocked the Kashmir Valley in which nine cases for various offences,including Section 376 (rape) of Ranbir Penal Code (RPC),Immoral Trafficking Act and the Information Technology Act were registered.

Nine accused were named in one case,while three each were named in the remaining eight cases. The names of Sabina and her husband Abdul Hamid Billa figure in all the cases.

The other accused include former Jammu and Kashmir minister Raman Mattoo,former DSP Mohammad Ashraf Mir,bureaucrat Iqbal Khandey,former DSP Mohammad Yusuf Mir and former Additional Advocate General Anil Sethi.