One arrested in Handwara molestation case

 The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday arrested one of the two persons accused of assaulting and spreading false rumour about molestation bid of Handwara girl that triggered a cycle of violence in the past one week resulting in five civilian deaths.

The arrest comes a day after the police filed four separate cases including one for “false rumour” about molestation of the girl last Tuesday.

A senior police officer told DH that they arrested one of the accused youth Hilal Ahmed Bandey of Handwara town during a raid on Monday night. “He (Bandey) is being questioned while efforts are on to trace the second accused,” he said.

Bandey was among the two persons named by the girl in her statement before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Handwara on Sunday. He is accused of manhandling the minor girl on April 12 when she was stepping out of a public convenience.

The girl also denied the allegation by local people that an army man had tried to molest her.

On Monday, the police registered four FIRs against those who spread false rumours of molestation bid, against soldiers of Army's 21 Rashtriya Rifles unit for opening fire upon protesters, against the group of people who set on fire series of bunkers and vandalised government property and against the group of people for attacking a police station and damaging vehicles," a police officer said.

Sources said initial investigations have indicated that the girl was spurning offers for a relationship from one of the two accused. However, the entire case will be solved once the second accused is arrested, they said.