CBI begins investigation, visits Kotkhai

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 22 

The CBI today took up the cases of minor’s rape and murder and custodial death of an accused in the police lock-up at Kotkhai and registered two FIRs. 

A Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by SP Ram Gopal, an officer of the ASP rank, a DSP and an Inspector as its members, has been constituted. The team has visited the scene of crime.

The CBI has also asked the police to hold back the body of the rape accused Suraj, who was allegedly killed in the police lock-up at Kotkhai on July 18 by another accused Rajender alias Raju, sources said. However, the police have not confirmed that the case has been handed over to the CBI.

The post-mortem on the body of Suraj was conducted yesterday. As per sources, the post-mortem report has confirmed that he was hit on private parts, had head injuries and was strangulated. The body of the deceased is lying at the IGMC mortuary.

The widow of Suraj, who was given police security, had been shifted to Nari Nikaten. “We will hand over the body to the wife whenever she asks for it,” said SP Shimla Soumya Sambasivan.

Following recovery of the body of the minor girl, the Kotkhai police had registered a case under Sections 302, 376 of the IPC and Section 4 of the POCSO Act on July 6 and a case under Section 302 of the IPC was registered on July 19 after the death of Suraj in Kotkhai and both cases have been taken over by the CBI.

Wait for forensic report

Following custodial death of accused Suraj and confusion created by uploading photographs of suspects on the Chief Minister facebook page, all eyes are set on the forensic reports. The police had sent the DNA, biological and viscera samples to the forensic laboratory. After overcoming the initial hiccups of spot verification and marks on the body, forensic experts have been able to find out the state of the victim. The team is expected to inspect the spot for corroborating the evidence provided by the police through scientific methods. 

School after victim’s name

Facing criticism for failure to ensure safety of girl students, who were forced to pass through forest areas for reaching school, the state government today notified upgrading of Government Middle School at Dhar Tarjunu (Talli) near the village of the victim to Government Senior Secondary School. The government also created the posts of principal, five PGT and one TGT each for arts and medical and a language teacher, said Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, Rohan Chand Thakur, adding that the school had been named after the victim as a mark of respect.

BJP Mahila Morcha up in arms 

Hundreds of BJP Mahila Morcha activists in Manali protested against the state government. They assembled at Rambagh and prayed for the victim. The general secretary alleged that the culprits were being shielded and that was why the investigation had been handed over to the CBI. She demanded that the CBI be directed to complete the investigation within a time limit and the trial of the case be held on day-to-day hearing by a fast-track court. She also urged the government to provide assistance of senior state police officers to the CBI.  OC

Protest at Theog

The protest seeking justice for the minor victim continued as the CPM and other organisations held a demonstration and blocked the Hindustan-Tibet highway at Theog, 32 km from here, for several hours today. The protest was peaceful and only emergency vehicles were allowed to go while hundreds of vehicles were stranded on either side of the road. Senior CPM leader Rakesh Singha, who led the protest, said the crime had hurt the sentiments of people who were not ready to believe the version of the police that the spot of crime was in the forest. He said the public wanted to know the mystery of the victim’s missing socks and from where it was recovered. A delegation of protesters met the Shimla SP and demanded that the doubts being raised by the people regarding the police investigations must be cleared and real culprits be booked and punished. "We are demanding a CBI probe and as the case is transferred to the CBI, we have decided to call off the protest," said former BJP MLA Rakesh Verma, adding that, "We do not want any politics on the issue but if the state government plays any negative role in handing over the documents, we will lodge our protest, he added.