The police today said that some vested interests “are trying to communalize the situation” to put pressure on the agency investigating the rape and murder of a teenage girl in Kathua.
“And, unfortunately some media organizations have also started playing into the hands of such troublemaking elements,” it said.
Reacting to a news report published in a Jammu-based daily today, a spokesman of the zonal police headquarters Jammu in a statement 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 the gruesome criminal act of murder of an innocent girl,” he said and added that the police had registered a case FIR 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 leveling 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.
Vested interests trying to communalize Kathua incident: Police
