Himachal officer in judicial custody over custodial death

A CBI court on Tuesday sent Superintendent of Police D.W. Negi, arrested for the custodial death of an accused in the gang-rape and murder of a school girl, to judicial custody for three days.

The court fixed the next hearing on November 23 when eight other policemen arrested in the case would be produced.

Earlier, Negi -- known for his proximity to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and arrested on November 16 -- was in police custody.

He was a member of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that probed the crime that took place in Kotkhai town in Shimla district on July 18.

The Central Bureau of Investigation had arrested the SIT head and Inspector General Zahur H. Zaidi and other police officials on August 29.

Negi was the ninth member to be arrested by the CBI, which has been entrusted the task of investigation by the High Court.

Both the gang-rape and custodial death cases are being monitored by the High Court that has directed the CBI to file the chargesheet by November 30.

Police said the 16-year-old girl victim was offered a lift in a vehicle by the accused on July 4 when she was returning home from her school in Kotkhai town, 56 km from Shimla.

On the way, they raped and murdered her in a forest. Her naked body with injury marks was found two days later.

The arrested persons include prime accused Rajinder Singh, who offered her the lift, Ashish Chauhan, Subhash Bisht, Deepak Kumar, Suraj Singh and Lokjan.

They are believed to have been drunk at the time of committing the crime. Currently all the rape accused are out on bail.

However, a new twist in the case came after Rajinder Singh allegedly murdered fellow accused Suraj Singh in the police lock-up on July 19.

Meanwhile, the state witnessed violent protests, with people raising questions over the delay in completing the investigation by the CBI.

--IANS

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