After arresting IG, 7 others, CBI calls two more cops to Delhi

SHIMLA: A day after the CBI shifted IGP and seven other policemen to Delhi pertaining to the custodial death of an accused in the Gudiya gangrape and murder case, the agency has now asked two more officers, who were in the state-formed SIT, to join the probe in New Delhi.

Additional SP Bhajan Dev Negi and DSP Rattan Singh Negi have now been called to New Delhi for further investigation.

Rattan Negi was incorporated in the SIT for assessing call details while Bhajan Dev was a member since its inception.

CBI on Tuesday had arrested IG Zahur Zaidi, head of the state special SIT constituted on July 9 to probe the case.

Besides Zaidi, other members of the SIT —DSP Manoj Joshi, Rajinder Singh, ASI Deep Chand Sharma, head constables Surat Singh, Mohan Lal, Rafiq Ali and constable Ranjit Singh — have been arrested by the police.

Initially, DSP Manoj Joshi was asked to investigate the Kotkhai case following which, the then Shimla SP, DW Negi, was sent to the spot on July 7, a day after the naked body of the victim was found in Halailaforest.

On July 13, the SIT arrested six accused — Ashish Chauhan , Rajender Singh , Subhash Singh Bisht , Deepak alias Deepu (29) Suraj Singh and Lok Jung.

However, day before arrests, photos of some alleged accused youths went viral on social media and were posted on the chief minister’s Facebook account too.

But the persons who were arrested by the police were completely different from the one’s whose photos surfaced on the internet. Not satisfied with these arrests, the locals staged a violent protest at Theog, demanding a CBI probe and accusing the SIT of shielding the real culprits. Alarmed by the situation, the HP government recommended a CBI probe.Meanwhile, the case became uglier on July 18, when Suraj, one of the accused, was found murdered in police custody. The police claimed that he died in a scuffle with another accused Rajender Singh.

Following this, infuriated people torched the Kotkhai police station, and the Himachal Pradesh high court handed over the probe of both the cases to the CBI.

ACCUSED REFUSES TO UNDERGO NARCO TEST

SHIMLA: Days after the CBI sought Ashish Chauhan’s consent for undergoing narco test, Chauhan refused for the same. Chauhan is an accused in the case.

The CBI, after taking over all the documents submitted by the state-constituted SIT into the case, felt the need to conduct Chauhan’s narco test for investigation. The CBI also filed an application in the sessions court in Shimla, seeking consent of the accused for the narco test. Sources said the accused has denied giving consent for the test. Although the CBI has the option to move high court with the narco test plea, it could also utilise the accused refusal in its favour.

THE PERSONS WHO WERE ARRESTED BY THE POLICE WERE DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE’S WHOSE PHOTOS SURFACED ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA