The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday arrested the Himachal Pradesh Inspector-General of Police, Zahur Zaidi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police and six other police officers in connection with the alleged custodial death of a gang-rape and murder accused in Shimla in July.
The Kotkhai police in the Shimla district had arrested Suraj Singh along with five other persons. They had allegedly kidnapped a teenaged girl, who was on her way home from school on July 4, raped her and the strangled her before disposing of her body in a forest. The body was found two days later.
Suraj, who was lodged in the Kotkhai police lockup with prime accused Rajendra Singh, died in the night of July 18, five days after he was arrested. As the news spread, it triggered violent protests by the locals.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court, on July 19, directed the CBI to take over the investigation into the gang-rape and murder case and also the mysterious death of Suraj in police custody. It was then alleged that he was murdered by the prime accused.
On court orders, the CBI re-registered the case and constituted a Special Investigation Team headed by a Superintendent of Police. Sections 302 (murder) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code, apart from Section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act have been invoked in the rape-cum-murder case.
A separate FIR was also registered to probe the circumstances that led to the death of Suraj. In the same case, the agency has now arrested the police officers. They will be produced before a court on Wednesday.
