Jammu, April 30: In an embarrassment to the ruling PDP-BJP alliance, Jammu and Kashmir's new Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta said after being sworn in that the Kathua rape and murder was a "small issue".
Answering questions about his role in ensuring the stability of the ruling alliance, Gupta said the reshuffle of the council of ministers was in itself a proof of the seriousness which the coalition attaches to better governance.
Asked whether the Kathua rape and murder incident had impacted the reshuffle, he said: "That was a small issue."
Both President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have said that the rape and murder of an eight-year-old in Kathua has shaken the country and made everyone hang their heads in shame.
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New Delhi: The investigation team that probed the explosion that took place outside the CRPF School in the Prashant Vihar area of the city on October 20 morning has reportedly not found any terror force behind the blast.
The investigation team, consisting of Delhi Police and staff members from central agencies, has stated in its report that cigarette butts thrown by a local resident might have come in contact with industrial waste and have caused the explosion. Circumstantial evidence does not show the incident to have a terror angle to it, reports The Indian Express.
The Delhi Police, the city bomb squad and the fire brigade had rushed to the spot following the explosion, which was initially believed to have been caused by a crude bomb. The forensic experts who inspected the spot hinted at the presence of potassium chlorate, hydrogen peroxide and some electrical wires there. The school wall had been damaged and the windows of a car nearby had shattered in the explosion.
The investigation team scanned the CCTV camera footage and zeroed in on around 10 people questioned. A senior police officer said that a North Delhi-based businessman from Prashant Vihar was found to be present at the spot around five minutes before the explosion, as he had come there on Sunday morning to walk his dog. The CCTV footage showed him smoking and, after questioning him, the team concluded that he had left lit cigarette butts before leaving the spot, the officer added.
The spot where the explosion took place is learned to have been usually used for dumping garbage and also has a public urinal.
An officer has said that the Delhi Police had consulted forensic and technical experts of the National Security Guard regarding the things found on the explosion site but are yet to get the report. The officer added that they have found no detonator so far.