Kathua incident: Police says vested interests trying to add fuel to fire

Monitor News Bureau
JAMMU, FEB 28: The police today said that some vested interests are trying to communalize the situation to put pressure on the agency investigating the murder of a teenage girl in Kathua and “unfortunately some media organizations have also started playing into the hands of such troublemaking elements.”
Reacting to a news report published in one of the newspapers today, a spokesman of the Zonal Police Headquarters Jammu said that as has been misleadingly reported by the said newspaper, no migration has occurred in Hiranagar area and some ladies on the instigation of rumor-mongers and trouble-creators with vested interest had assembled near Higher Secondary School, Kootah and created an unnecessary scene. The ladies, however, returned to their homes on the intervention and assurance of the local administration, he said. “Unfortunately, some vested interests are desperately trying to polarize the situation in the area around this gruesome criminal act of the murder of an innocent girl,” he said and added that the Police had registered a case FIR No: 10/2018 in Police Station Hiranagar following the abduction and murder of the teenage girl in the area last month. He said the case was then transferred to the Crime Branch which is now investigating it professionally.
“It would have been particularly appropriate for the newspaper to contact the officials of the Crime Branch or local police administration before levelling the wild charges of harassment against the investigating agency,” he said.
Meanwhile, an official spokesman today urged the media to report in a responsible and constructive manner in such sensitive situations in the spirit of professional ethics. He said the media organizations must realize that whatever the circumstances, it pays to keep faith with professionalism and ethics. “We are only playing into the hands of the disruptive elements instead of serving the larger public interest by publicizing such unsubstantiated news reports,” he said and added that it is extremely unfortunate if some of the reputed media organizations in the State also get into the divisive trap not only at the cost of their own credibility, but at the perilous cost of peace, tranquility and stability in the region.
“Instead of trying to influence the investigation on the behest of trouble-mongers, the media should allow the law and order machinery to work in a dispassionate manner to ensure justice in the case,” he said.