Kathua rape: BJP’s Lal Singh holds another roadshow, seeks CBI probe

The BJP leader was earlier forced to step down from Mehbooba Mufti’s Cabinet after public uproar over a rally taken out to demand a CBI probe.

Days after stepping down from the Mehbooba Mufti dispensation, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Basholi, Choudhary Lal Singh, held a road show in Hiranagar tehsil of Kathua on Tuesday to support the kin of the accused in the rape and murder of the eight-year-old girl from Muslim nomad community.

Singh reaffirmed his demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe in the brutality which had shaken the nation. Alongwith minister for industries Chander Prakash Ganga, Singh had tendered his resignation to party president Sat Sharma after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had asked them to step down for allegedly supporting the people of village Rassana in demanding a CBI probe in the Kathua rape and murder case and taking part in a rally organised on March 1 by the ‘Bharat Ekta Manch.’ 

Waving the tricolour and holding placards demanding a CBI probe, thousands of people on Tuesday afternoon participated in the road show led by Singh. In his address, the former forest minister of J&K held the demand for a genuine federal probe and said that there is no harm in holding the CBI enquiry for justice to everyone.

On Monday evening, in an interview to a news channel here, Singh had said that if Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath could transfer the probe of the Unnao rape case to the CBI, then what was wrong in this instance.

A CBI probe, Singh said, will bring justice to all, including the victim and the accused. “We also met the Chief Minister with a viewpoint of the people to transfer the case to the CBI but she refused,” Singh asserted. The BJP leader said that he resigned because the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being tarnished by some people. 

UNI