Attempts being made to give political colour to Kathua killings: J-K CM Abdullah

Expressing concern in the state Assembly over the recent mysterious deaths of five civilians in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday claimed attempts are being made to give a "political colour" to the killings, and questioned the police for allowing the leader of opposition to visit the bereaved families but preventing the deputy chief minister from doing the same.

Abdullah also demanded appropriat.e action against those who assaulted Independent MLA from Bani, Rameshwar Singh, during his visit to a hospital in Billawar tehsil of Kathua to meet the family members of three civilians whose bodies were retrieved from a waterfall in a remote area on Saturday, three days after they went missing from a marriage function.

The Assembly witnessed heated exchanges between opposition and treasury benches on Monday, as the members raised various issues, including the civilian killings in Kathua.

CPI(M) MLA M Y Tarigami asked the chief minister to express concern of the House over the killings.

"Tarigami has rightly raised the point. As the leader of the House, I want to record my concern and that of the House over the situation in Kathua. We condemn the innocent killings (of five persons) and express our condolences to the bereaved families,"Abdullah said before the beginning of discussions on the state Budget.

The bodies of 15-year-old Varun Singh, his paternal uncle Yogesh Singh (32) and maternal uncle Darshan Singh (40) were found in the Ishu nullah in the remote Malhar area of Kathua on Saturday.

They had gone missing on March 5 while attending a wedding ceremony.

On February 16, the bodies of Shamsher (37) and Roshan (45) were found at Kohag village in Billawar, with their post-mortem reports revealing strangulation.

"What happened, how it happened and why it happened is a matter of investigation which is going on. Discussing it in the House will not be appropriate. An MLA (Rameshwar Singh) wanted to go there and what happened with him is known to everyone. This also needs to be looked into and appropriate action should be taken, as he did not go there to do politics," the chief minister said.

Abdullah also claimed that senior BJP member and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Sunil Sharma visited the bereaved family.

"Attempts are being made to give a political colour (to the Kathua incidents). I am surprised that an LoP was allowed (to visit the bereaved families) but the deputy chief minister (Surinder Choudhary) was stopped. I spoke to the deputy chief minister on Sunday morning as he had made a plan to visit Kathua and informed the administration about his programme.

"But more police deployment was made outside his residence on Sunday, and he was told that his planned visit to the area was not appropriate at this juncture. He spoke to me over phone and asked what should he do. I told him that we are not irresponsible people and if the administration has an apprehension that our visit might deteriorate the situation, it is better not to go there," Abdullah said.

The chief minister also said that he told Choudhary to talk to the inspector general of police of Jammu zone, but he was busy with the visit of the Union home secretary.

He then spoke to the senior superintendent of police of Kathua who told him that the situation was tense and that he should wait for a few days, Abdullah said.

"However, I fail to understand that if the situation was such that the deputy chief minister couldn't go there, how the LoP was allowed," the chief minister asked, even as Sharma tried to reason with him about his visit.

"You (LoP) cannot reply because I am not asking you. My question is for those who allowed you (to visit Kathua) but stopped the deputy chief minister," Abdullah said.

"It seems we are under a new administration in which you (Sharma) have become the spokesperson of the police. I have placed the reality before the House and the police will have to give answers, not you," the chief minister added.

Later, Sharma said he was constantly in touch with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and had visited the area to assure the people on behalf of the home minister.