Ahead of Eid, Mehbooba govt withdraws stone-pelting cases against 634 accused

The Jammu and Kashmir Government has withdrawn cases of stone-pelting against 634 accused ahead of Eid ul-Fitr, days after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti called for expediting review such cases involving mostly youth.

According to government sources, the J-K Home Department accorded its approval for the withdrawal of 104 cases of stone pelting against the 634 accused.

A three-member committee constituted by the state government in its recommendations submitted to the Chief Minister, who also holds the charge of the Home Department, proposed that the cases pertaining to the period between 2008 and 2014 be segregated and recommended for withdrawal in a phased manner.

Headed by the Director General of Police (ADG), the committee comprised Additional DGP (Crime Investigation Department) and Special Secretary, Home, as its members. The committee is mandated to review the cases registered against youth for stone-pelting during the period 2008-14.

The committee had taken up for review the cases pertaining to the period between 2008 and 2009 in the first phase, and accordingly recommended that 104 cases registered during this period involving the 634 people be withdrawn.

The parents of the accused and the accused themselves will have to give an undertaking that they will not indulge in any such activities in future.

The committee, however, made it clear that the people involved in heinous crimes and offenses would be excluded from the review.

The recommendations of the committee have been forwarded to the police for immediate follow-up.