Ex-SP Negi granted bail in custodial death case

Vijay Arora
Legal Correspondent
Shimla, April 18

The HP High court on Thursday granted bail to former Superintendent of Police (SP) DW Negi.

Negi was arrested for the custodial death of an accused in a rape and murder case of a 16-year-old girl. The CBI arrested Negi on November 16, 2017. Negi contended in his bail petition that the investigation was complete in this case and nothing was to be recovered from him.

While granting bail, Justice Sureshwar Thakur has imposed stringent conditions on the bail to the petitioner, including furnishing personal bond in the sum of Rs 3,00,000, with two local sureties in the like amount to the satisfaction of the Special Judge CBI, Shimla.

Apart from this, the court further directed Negi to join the investigation as and when required by the investigating agency and he will not directly or indirectly, make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer.

The court also directed that he will not leave India without the prior permission of the court and deposit his passport with the CBI.

The court had directed the CBI to constitute a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a Superintendent of Police to investigate the rape and murder of a 16-year old girl from Kotkhai.

Apart from this, the court had also entrusted the investigation of the custodial death of an accused in a rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl case. It was on July 12, 2017 that the High Court took suo moto cognizance of the matter after news reports published in media.

Thereafter, an FIR was registered against Negi and others on July, 22, 2017 with the Police Station, Special Crime-1/CBI, New Delhi, in a custodial death case.