Kathua rape and murder: Accused's sign not same as in exam sheet as per forensic

Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party activists hold up placards to protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the state. Pic/PTI

The signature of Vishal Jangotra, an accused in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in January, does not match the one, which he claimed to have signed in an exam attendance sheet in Meerut to claim he was not at the crime scene, according to a forensic report.

The report by the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL), detailing this conclusion, has been submitted to the crime branch of J&K police, according to officials in the probe team.

The crime branch, meanwhile, issued notices to all the three friends of Vishal for appearing before it for questioning on Monday after the Supreme Court gave a go ahead on May 17 for their further examination.

The officials said the report has stated that Vishal had not put the signature on the attendance sheet and someone else did it. Vishal, one of the eight accused arrested in the case for raping and murdering the girl from the minority nomadic community, had claimed that he was in Meerut and had never visited Kathua when the crime was committed.

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