Shimla rape
“After taking over the probe in the case, investigators subjected the five accused, arrested by state police, to various types of forensic examinations including t he DNA, narco and lie-detector tests. Their DNA samples didn’t match with DNA samples lifted from the crime scene. Their digital footprints were mapped by looking at their mobile phone records. It showed they were not near the crime scene when the girl went missing and her dead body was found. The alibis proved correct. Then investigators set out to look for real culprit or culprits,” said a CBI official familiar with the probe.
The probe was divided into two parts. One pertained to the custodial death of one of the six suspects arrested by state police and the second focused on the rape and murder of the girl.
In the case of the custodial death of Suraj Singh, the agency charge-sheeted nine policemen including an officer of the rank of inspector general, charging them with murder, wrongful confinement to extort a confession and destroying evidence in November last year.
In the case of rape and murder of the girl, CBI investigators used DNA testing to zero in on the suspect.
The first clue surfaced when a major percentage of the DNA profile of a person, who was among the 250 people asked for their blood samples, matched with a DNA profile lifted from the crime scene, said the CBI official cited above.
“His family members were spoken to and investigators found that one of the family members in Kangra district, Anil Kumar, who had a criminal history, was untraceable. Kumar was on the run since September 2016 after getting bail in an attempted murder case. DNA samples of his family, including parents and siblings, were collected and through lineage testing it was found that they matched with the DNA samples lifted from the crime scene. His family was put under technical and physical surveillance,” said the CBI official.
In April, a call by Kumar to a relative was traced to a farm in the Roharu area near Shimla. The team spotted a labourer in the farm whose profile matched the one they were seeking. He was immediately arrested and brought to Delhi where tests confirmed his involvement in the crime; his DNA matched fully with samples picked from the crime scene and from the body and clothes of the girl, CBI officials said.
CBI spokesperson Dayal said agency chief Alok Verma had been monitoring the progress of the case from day one.
“The director expressed the satisfaction at the work done by the investigative team and forensic experts of the CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory) of the CBI for solving a sensitive and difficult case," said Dayal.
In November 2013, the Jodhpur police filed charge sheet against Asaram and four co accused. The charge sheet accused him of rape, sexual exploitation and human trafficking apart from offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) 2012.