Kathua rape case: Choudhary Lal Singh holds rally in Jammu and Kashmir to demand CBI probe, narco test

Former Jammu and Kashmir minister Choudhary Lal Singh took out a rally from Jammu to Kathua on Tuesday, reportedly demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe and a narco test in the Kathua rape case.

#BREAKING -- Former J&K minister Lal Singh backs Kathua accused, demands narco test and CBI inquiry in the case | @saahilmenghani with more details #KathuaHorror pic.twitter.com/6qUyB0vGhP

— News18 (@CNNnews18) April 17, 2018

This comes just a day after the eight people accused of raping and killing the eight-year-old girl pleaded not guilty and asked the judge for a narcoanalysis test.

Seven out of the eight accused were produced before district and sessions Judge Sanjay Gupta on Monday.

The judge asked the state crime branch to give them copies of the chargesheet and fixed 28 April as the next date of hearing.

Special police officer Deepak Khajuria, who is alleged to have repeatedly raped the child, told reporters from the police van that he was also demanding a narco test, also known as the “truth test”, and a CBI probe.

Singh and Chander Prakash Ganga, BJP ministers in the Jammu and Kashmir coalition government, had tendered their resignations after facing criticism for their participation in an event supporting the accused in the Kathua case.

Singh later said that his participation in the rally was meant to defuse the situation. “We had gone to defuse the situation created due to migration one and half months back. We told them they should go back. Abdul Gani Kohli (minister) was sent to the house of the victim, so that an ugly situation was not created,” he had said.

With inputs from agencies