From correspondents in Delhi, India, 12:00 PM IST

New Delhi - Women police personnel and special police officers (SPOs) in Jammu and Kashmir are intangibly involved in the sex scandal that has rocked the state for the last month, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has found. The racket, protests against which have led to strikes and rioting, extends well beyond Srinagar and into other towns of the valley, the CBI says.

'We have found that several women police constables and SPOs were controlling and running the racket in Srinagar,' a senior officer handling the investigation told IANS.

Though several cases were registered against the main accused Sabina -- who was running the business in the city of forcing young girls into prostitution -- no action was taken because of the influence of senior state police officers and also because it was being run by their own people.

Well-informed sources said the three-week investigations revealed that over 10 similar sex rackets were active in Srinagar and places around the city.

'We have found that one such racket is active in the Gulmarg area,' an officer told IANS. He added that it was so deeply embedded in the Kashmir administration that the case would not have been solved had it not been handed over to an outside agency.

'We have the names of 45 women who were being forced into prostitution and we have concrete evidence to prove that there are many more women and young girls involved,' he said.

The sex scandal first came to light when a 15-year-old victim registered a case against the prime accused, Sabina, in early May. The girl named over 56 people, including some high profile personalities, in her complaint.

The minor was being exploited for the past three years and there were many girls who were forced into the trade. 'The brothel owner and her accomplices used to make pornographic films of young girls and would then force them into the trade,' said officers.

Investigators have also found evidences that these CDs were also made available in the open market for a price.

'The Jammu and Kashmir Police had filed several cases against Sabina and had also recovered phone numbers and records about conversations but these details were never presented before the court and case was not followed up in front of the law,' sources said.

'We have asked for these records also so that we can find out how the police had managed the case and had not taken any action against the accused people. The role of the police is also under the scanner.'

According to CBI sleuths, a section of the Kashmir administration was upset with the agency and there was ample proof indicating the section was trying to hamper investigations.

'Recently, the Jammu and Kashmir court directed the government to provide three different police teams to the CBI so that investigations in the case could be speeded up,' sources said.

The CBI had carried out an identification parade of the people named by the victim and Sabina in the police complaint and three people have been identified so far.

'Two of them are in judicial custody,' sources said. Five people, including a police officer, a restaurant owner and a doctor, were Tuesday paraded in front

of the 15-year-old in Srinagar.

The sources said that the victim had provided three different lists of people who were involved in the scandal.

'The first list is of the persons who had exploited her sexually while the second list contains the names of those who used to visit the brothel regularly,' he said.

Sources said that the third list contained the names of women and girls who used to work as sex workers or visit the brothel.

'It is a long list of nearly 56 people and there are names from all sections of society, including a deputy inspector general (DIG) of the Border Security Force (BSF), local politicians, doctors, lawyers, senior police officers and hoteliers,' a CBI officer said.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)