Kotkhai gangrape-murder: CBI searches houses of three youth
The trio’s pictures were uploaded on CM Virbhadra Singh’s official Facebook page on July 12, claiming they are the nabbed suspects in the case, and were later deleted
SHIMLA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), that is probing the rape and murder case of a school girl, conducted searches at three houses in Kotkhai tehsil’s Hilaila village, to gather more information.
The agency took over the probe into the case after it registered two separate cases of rape and murder of a school girl and the custodial death of Nepalese national Suraj on July 22. Suraj had died in police lock up at Kotkhai police station on July 19.
The CBI teams searched the houses in Bowarhi, a hamlet close to Hilaila village in Kotkhai tehsil of Shimla district. The hamlet is close to the forest area where the victim’s naked body was found on July 4. The searches were reportedly conducted at the houses of three youths whose pictures were initially uploaded on Himachal Pradesh chief minister (CM) Virto bhadra Singh’s official Facebook page on July 12 and were later deleted.
On July 12, photographs of four youth were uploaded on the CM’s Facebook page in a post claiming that the police have nabbed these suspects.
The post went on to congratulate the investigating team, lead by inspector general of police (IGP) Zahur Zaidi for ‘cracking the case.’
On July 13, police claimed that have cracked the rape and murder case, and arrested Ashish Chauhan, Lok Jan, Deepak, Rajender alias Raju, Deepak, Subash and Suraj.
In the post, Virbhadra had commended the Special Investigating Team (SIT), led by IGP Zahur Zaidi. He had written: “I would like to inform the people of Himachal Pradesh that four suspects have been taken into police custody and further investigation is being conducted.”
The team responsible for updating Virbhadra’s social networking accounts was informed by some officials that it is a goof up and the photographs were pulled down in a minute.
One of the person whose picture appeared in the post, Ashish Chauhan, was arrested by the police. Two others, Prashant Negi and Ishant Chauhan, were let off after they were rounded up. The pictures acted as a catalyst to the protests against the rape and murder. They went viral, which further strengthened the doubts about the shoddy police investigation. It led to public anger against the alleged mishandling of the case by police.
What further raised hackles was that the chief minister office and police cyberspace cell remained tight-lipped about it.
The Central Bureau of Investigation team, comprising of a dozen sleuths, visited Bowarhi and conducted late night searches at the houses of the three suspects. “Searches have been conducted,” said a CBI official, on condition of anonymity. The CBI had recently questioned one of the three people, whose pictures had appeared on the Facebook page.
The Central Bureau of Investigation sleuths searched for corroboratory evidences, and it has reportedly secured crucial leads in the case, which are being monitored by the high court.