Fresh details have emerged in the Kathua rape and murder case where an eight-year-old girl was reportedly raped and killed in the Kathua Village in Jammu in last January. An investigation by Zee News has revealed that one of the accused, Vishal Jangotra, the son of Sanji Ram who was accused by the police to be the mastermind of the crime, was present in Muzaffarnagar on the day and at a time when the police charge sheet accuses him to be present in Kathua.
Zee News has accessed CCTV footage from an SBI ATM in Muzaffarnagar where Vishal Jangotra is visible standing in a queue and withdrawing money among other people. The Zee News team had even gone to Kathua to verify the identity of Vishal where his mother and sister have positively identified him. They also pointed out to the chain he was wearing and his clothes as proof that it was really him. Vishal’s sister has claimed that it was her ATM card Vishal was using as he did not have an account and all the transactions shown in the passbook have been done in the same location as Vishal stayed there to study.
#DNA Special: The ‘biggest revelation’ on Kathua gangrape-murder case#KathuaKaSatya pic.twitter.com/xv13adMCqZ
— Zee News (@ZeeNews) April 30, 2018
Vishal Jangotra is a student in the first year course of BSc Agriculture at Meerut University. Earlier too, claims that the charge sheet poses false allegations on Vishal had surfaced when it was revealed in media that Vishal had attended the University examinations during the time he was accused to be in Kathua. The university has now reportedly provided Vishal’s answer sheets and CCTV footage recorded during the exams to the Jammu Police crime branch for verification of authenticity. Vishal’s family has been claiming since the beginning of the case that the crime branch investigations are botched up and Vishal was never present during the crime period.
Kashmir Crime Branch’s chargesheet says accused Vishal Jangotra was dumping the dead body on 15th January at 4pm in Kathua.This CCTV shows him withdrawing money from ATM in Muzzafar Nagar on the same day at 3 pm. #KathuaKaSatya pic.twitter.com/7KcJwnqZ6n
— Sudhir Chaudhary (@sudhirchaudhary) April 30, 2018
Vishal’s presence in Muzaffarnagar on 15 January at 3 PM definitely throws a shadow of doubt on the charge sheet filed by the Jammu crime branch team in the Kathua case. The charge sheet was already under scrutiny as many reports claimed that it contained factual discrepancies. The whole matter of Vishal’s involvement is now questionable because the charge sheet claims that Vishal was helping the minor accused dump the body of the victim at 4 PM on 15th January.
The residents and several public organisations have been demanding a CBI probe in the case claiming that the investigations were sabotaged to frame the accused at the behest of certain elements with vested interests. The Jammu Bar Association has also protested in demand of a CBI probe into the incidents. The accused have pleaded not guilty in court and have demanded a narco test.
