The Central Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the rape and murder of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in Shimla’s Kothkai town, on Thursday cleared one of the accused men of killing his accomplice Suraj Singh in jail, The Indian Express reported.
In its status report to the Himachal Pradesh High Court, the agency said it was giving Rajendar Singh a clean chit in the case. Suraj Singh, a Nepali national, who was arrested for raping and killing the schoolgirl was found dead in custody at the Kothkai police station on July 18.
On Thursday, CBI counsel Anshul Bansal told the court that Suraj Singh died after severe torture by the police, and requested the trial court to drop charges against Rajendar Singh. The CBI said it filed a chargesheet on November 25 against eight policemen, including inspector general of police Zahur Zaidi, the Hindustan Times reported. They were arrested in August.
Six men had allegedly raped and murdered the schoolgirl on July 4. The police arrested the six men – four Nepali nationals and two from Uttarakhand – on July 14. The Special Investigation Team of the police, which was leading the inquiry at that time, had said that Rajendar Singh had murdered Suraj Singh.
According to the CBI chargesheet, the SIT made “false entries in records and submitted fabricated reports” to the state police chief about Rajendar Singh. “The injuries on Suraj’s body were sustained by a blunt, hard cylindrical object such as a lathi,” the chargesheet said. “The medical board rules out the possibility of sustaining injury in a scuffle with another individual.”
The High Court special bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sandeep Sharma has now asked the agency to complete investigations by December 20. “Public sentiments and that of the court are linked to the outcome of the CBI investigations in the case,” the bench said, according to The Indian Express.
The case
The incident took place on July 4 when the six accused had offered the girl a lift while she was returning from school. They then took her to a nearby forest, where they allegedly raped her before killing her. The girl’s body was found two days later on July 6. The police had arrested six people – four Nepali nationals and two from Uttarakhand – on July 14.
The custodial death of accused Suraj Singh on July 18 had triggered violent protests in the district. All the police station officials had been suspended after it was found that the station house inspector had lodged the six accused in two cells, instead of keeping them separately.
The Central Bureau of Investigation had on July 23 set up a Special Investigation Team to investigate the girl’s rape and murder as well as the custodial death cases.
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