The death of an alleged accused of the gangrape and murder of a 16-year-old girl in Himachal Pradesh’s Kotkhai police custody on Wednesday morning triggered violent protests as demonstrators set on fire three police vehicles and a building. The protesters alleged that the deceased — Nepali citizen Suraj Singh — was not involved in the gangrape-murder case. Three cops were injured in the clashes with protesters.
Following the killing, the entire staff of the Kotkhai Police Station has been shifted and recommendation for a judicial enquiry into the custodial death has been made.
However, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday handed over the investigation into the Kotkhai gangrape and murder case and also the custodial death of one of the accused to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Earlier, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had recommended the same and was awaiting Centre’s approval.
Meanwhile, the CM said Suraj was not the main accused.
Additional police force was rushed to Kotkhai and police resorted to firing, as the authorities feared the killing would trigger outrage.
Police said Suraj was killed by another accused Rajender alias Raju, during a scuffle inside the lock-up.
Shimla Superintendent of Police DW Negi said a fight broke out between Suraj and Rajender on Tuesday late night, in which Suraj was badly injured. “He was taken to Theog hospital. Doctors declared him brought dead,” he said.
Furious protesters blocked the Hatkoti-Theog and the Hindustan-Tibet highways for hours due to which hundreds of people were stranded. Police faced a tough time even in shifting the injured to a hospital.
Himachal Police has been facing flak in handling the sensitive case in which a girl, student of Class X, was raped and murdered in the Kotkhai area of Shimla district. The girl took a lift in a vehicle allegedly driven by Rajendra, said police, adding that the victim’s body was recovered from the nearby Halila forest two days later on July 4. Six persons, including Suraj and Rajendra, were arrested in connection with the case.
BJP MPs from the State — JP Nadda, Shanta Kumar, Anurag Thakur and Ram Swaroop along with State party chief Satpal Singh Satti called on Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and expressed concern over the worsening law and order situation in Himachal Pradesh and demanded dismissal of the State Government.
The party has called for a ‘bandh’ in Shimla and said it will stage demonstrations on July 21.