11 get bail in Shopian case

As many as 11 people, including doctors and lawyers, on Wednesday got bail in the Shopian case as a Chief Judicial Magistrate here took cognisance of the CBI chargehseet on drowning of two women who were alleged to have been raped and murdered.

All the accused except Dr Nighat Shaheen and Dr Nazia Hassan were present before Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohammed Ibrahim Wani and the court asked them to furnish a bail bond of Rs 10,000 each.

The accused were represented by President of Kashmir Bar Council Mian Abdul Qayoom who moved an application before the court for inclusion of statements made by some people before the Special Investigating team of the state police.

The CBI counsel was not present in the court when the bail was being granted and therefore, there was no opposition.

The next date of hearing has been fixed for April 17.

Life in Shopian town, 51 kms from here, had come to a standstill after the bodies of the two women were found in a stream. Protests were held claiming that the two had been raped and murdered.

The CBI, which has based its finding on the opinion received from experts of AIIMS, Central Forensic and Scientific Laboratory and FSL of Haryana, had told the CJM’s court on December 10 that the women were never raped and had died due to drowning.