BJP leader Lal Singh takes out rally demanding CBI probe into Kathua rape and murder case

Senior BJP leader and former Jammu and Kashmir minister Lal Singh took out a rally here this evening in support of his demand for a CBI probe into the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua district in January.

Hundreds of people, including women, participated in the rally which started from the Gandhi Nagar residence of Singh and ended peacefully at the same place after passing through Satwari Chowk and Trikuta Nagar, officials said.

Eight people were arrested by a Special Investigation Team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police in connection with the Kathua rape and murder case. While seven of the accused are facing trial in a court in Punjab on the order of the Supreme Court, the eighth accused is facing trial in a juvenile court in Kathua.

Singh, who has started a campaign for a CBI probe into the Kathua rape-and-murder case after resigning from the then PDP-BJP government in April, had recently drawn flak for alleging that Kashmiri journalists have created "an erroneous atmosphere" and warning them to draw a line or face the fate of 'Rising Kashmir' editor Shujaat Bukhari, who was shot dead by militants.

Singh and his colleague Chander Prakash Ganga had resigned on April 13 over their participation in an earlier rally in support of the accused in the gang rape and murder of the eight-year-old girl in Kathua district.