CALL DETAILS, CONFISCATED PHONES HELPED CBI
SHIMLA: In its investigation into the custodial death of a Nepali labourer, a suspect in the rape and murder of a minor schoolgirl in Shimla, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), call details and Whats App messages of officials and cops helped the police crack the case.
The CBI sleuths scanned call details of more than 100 mobile numbers.
The agency also confiscated the phones of more than 50 people, including, the then Shimla district police chief, DW Negi. Negi is now a SP in the anti-corruption and vigilance bureau. The CBI decided to follow this line of investigation after it detected some numbers that were very frequently in touch with each other in the days after the custodial death of the accused, Suraj, on July 19. Police had blamed Raju, another accused in the case, for killing Suraj. CBI sleuths questioned on-duty sentry Dinesh, who is believed to have spilled the beans. 10 cops were present when Suraj was killed.
SENTRY RECORDED PHONE CONVERSATION
Dinesh purportedly recorded telephonic conversations he had with police officers after and before Suraj's death. He provided these clips to the CBI sleuths. He claimed that Suraj did not die in a scuffle, rather two cops had interrogated him. He is also reported to have told CBI sleuths that his life was in danger and the cops probing the rape had threatened him with dire consequences.
PICS OF ‘ACCUSED’ ON CM’S FB PAGE?
The CBI is also tracing the source from where pictures of four men were uploaded on Himachal chief minister Virbhadra Singh's Facebook account on July 12, with the caption that these were the four suspects that the police had nabbed. The pictures were uploaded at 10.37pm that day and pulled off after a minute. This created a lot of public anger and protests flared up and people accused the police had claimed that the accused were different.
The CPI has demanded police protection for sentry Dinesh Kumar. Senior party leader Rakesh Singha said, “Dinesh is an important witness in Suraj murder case and must be provided adequate security. The state should also reward him.