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A special investigation team (SIT) has also been set up to probe the matter further.
Weeks after three women were taken to a hospital in Jammu by two people who claimed they were injured in a road accident, police found they were actually wounded in a shooting incident. One of the women died while undergoing treatment.
Three police personnel involved in the initial probe were accused of inept handling of the case and suspended, officials said Sunday. A special investigation team (SIT) has also been set up to probe the matter further.
According to sources, those who brought the women to a private hospital in Jammu on August 21 told doctors they were injured in a road accident on the Ring Road in the Bari Brahmana area. When police were informed of the incident, they sought to speak to the injured people, but were told by doctors that they were in no condition to give a statement. Subsequently, police spoke to the two who brought the women to the hospital and filed inquest proceedings.
The women were subsequently moved to different hospitals, and on August 29, one of them, Mehjabeen Akil Sheikh (30) from Mumbai’s West Malad, succumbed to her injuries at the Government Medical College Hospital, Jammu.
Days later, the woman’s body was handed over to the family after a postmortem. However, it emerged later during further investigations that the three were wounded in a shooting incident, not in a road accident. Accordingly, an FIR was registered on September 18, and the inquest proceedings were converted into a case of murder and attempt to murder, sources said.
Three police personnel, including the SHO of Channi Himmat police station, were suspended. They were SHO Deepak Pathania and Probationary Sub-Inspectors (PSIs) Wasim Bhatti and Rohit Sharma.
Now, the Crime Branch of the J&K Police has set up an SIT to investigate the circumstances leading to the murder of Mehjabeen Sheikh and injuries to two other women, officials said, adding that the team would also look into whether the three suspended police officials had any role in the attempt to pass off the shooting incident as a road accident.
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The two other women injured in the incident were identified as Mehjabeen’s sister, Fatima Akil (21) and Ludhiana-resident Jaspreet Kour (28). Sources said the two women were taken into protective custody by the Crime Branch after they were discharged from hospital.
Forensic experts, crime photographers, and investigating officers, as well as a magistrate, have visited the scene of the crime and collected material evidence, sources said.
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