A CBI Court in Chandigarh has convicted Inspector General of Police (IG) Zahur Haider Zaidi and eight other police personnel for the custodial murder of Suraj, one of the accused in the 2017 Kotkhai rape and murder case in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla district.The trial was conducted in the CBI court following the Supreme Court’s order. The quantum of punishment in this case will be announced on January 27. After being convicted, IG Zahur Haider Zaidi and the eight police personnel have been taken into custody. However, due to a lack of witness statements and evidence, the then SP DW Negi, who was also named in the case, has been acquitted. The accused Suraj was murdered in the Kotkhai police station lockup 14 days after the Gudia murder case.
The minor girl had gone missing in a Kotkhai village on July 4, 2017, while on way home from school. Her body was recovered two days later from a forest area and the post-mortem confirmed rape. After massive public outrage, the Himachal government constituted a special investigation team (SIT) under IGP Zaidi on July 10. Negi was entrusted with the responsibility of “timely and sustained investigation” as the case fell within his jurisdiction. The SIT, the CBI claimed, arrested six persons on July 13 “without any evidence” and Suraj was “tortured to extract confessional statement, which led to his death” on the night of July 18 at the Kotkhai police station.
After Suraj’s death, the Himachal Pradesh High Court handed over the investigation into both rape-murder and custodial death cases to the CBI. The central agency registered a case on July 22 and arrested Zaidi and other police personnel for the custodial death. The CBI, which subsequently arrested one Nilu, said he was the lone accused in the rape-murder while those arrested by the Himachal police were innocent. In 2019, the Supreme Court transferred the custodial death case from Shimla to the CBI’s Chandigarh court to ensure speedy trial.
In its chargesheet, the CBI said the eight accused destroyed evidence relating to Suraj’s death. They were also accused of submitting fabricated reports to the DGP to prove Suraj was killed by another accused in police lockup following a scuffle. After hearing arguments, CBI Special Judge Alka Malik convicted the eight police personnel and acquitted Negi. Zaidi was reinstated in November 2019 after he was released on bail on April 5, 2019, by the Supreme Court.
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