2017 custodial death: CBI court sentences Himachal Pradesh IGP, seven other cops to life imprisonment

Case pertains to the custodial death of Suraj, an accused in the gang rape, murder of a minor girl in Kotkhai in Shimla district

Chandigarh: A special CBI court here on Monday sentenced Himachal Pradesh Inspector General of Police Zahur Haider Zaidi and seven other policemen to life imprisonment in a 2017 custodial death case.

On January 18, the court of special CBI judge Alka Malik had convicted Zaidi and others in the case which pertains to the custodial death of an accused in the gang rape and murder of a minor girl in Kotkhai in Shimla district. The other convicts in the case included the then deputy superintendent of police Manoj Joshi, then sub-inspector Rajinder Singh, then assistant SI Deep Chand Sharma, then head constables Mohan Lal, Surat Singh, Rafee Mohammad and then constable Ranjit Sateta.

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The court had acquitted the then superintendent of police D W Negi in the case. CBI public prosecutor Amit Jindal on Monday said the court sentenced the eight convicts to life imprisonment in the case. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on the convicts, said Jindal.

The accused were convicted under various sections, including 302 (murder) read with 120-B, 330 (voluntarily causing hurt to extort confession), 348 (wrongful confinement to extract confession), 195 (giving false evidence), 196 (using evidence known to be false), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and 218 (public servant framing incorrect record) of the Indian Penal Code.

Zaidi and seven others were arrested in the custodial death case of Suraj, who was found dead at the Kotkhai police station on July 18, 2017. However, accused police officials registered an FIR against another arrested person Rajinder for the murder of Suraj. A 16-year-old girl went missing in Kotkhai on July 4, 2017, and her body was found in the Halaila forests two days later on July 6. The postmortem report confirmed rape and murder and a case was registered. Amid a huge public outcry in the State, a Special Investigation Team headed by Zaidi was constituted by the then State government.

The SIT arrested six persons including Suraj. After his death in police custody, the Himachal Pradesh High Court handed over the investigations of both the cases to the CBI. The CBI then arrested Zaidi, a 1994-batch IPS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, DCP Joshi and other policemen in connection with the custodial death.

The CBI filed a charge sheet against the accused police officials after thorough investigation for criminal conspiracy, murder, fabrication of false evidence, destruction of evidence, torture in police custody for extracting confession, preparation of false record, etc. Later, the Supreme Court transferred the case related to the custodial death from Shimla to Chandigarh in May 2019.