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Kotkhai custodial death: Govt reinstates accused officers Zaidi, Negi, Joshi
The Himachal Pradesh government has reinstated Indian Police Service (IPS) officers Zahur Haider Zaidi, DW Negi and Himachal Pradesh Police Service (HPAS) Manoj
The Himachal Pradesh government has reinstated Indian Police Service (IPS) officers Zahur Haider Zaidi, DW Negi and Himachal Pradesh Police Service (HPAS) Manoj Joshi, who were placed under suspension for their alleged involvement in custodial death of a suspect in Kotkhai rape and murder case.
The suspension has been revoked with effect from November 16 and notifications in this regard were issued on November 23 by the state home department. The suspension was revoked by in exercise of the powers conferred in the governor by Rule 10(5)(c) of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules 1965.
Former inspector general of police (IGP) Zaidi and Joshi, who was posted as Theog deputy superintendent of police (DSP) during the time of incident, were among eight cops arrested by the CBI on August 29, 2017, for custodial death of one of the six suspects in the rape and murder of a minor schoolgirl in Shimla.
Negi, former Shimla senior superintendent of police (SSP) was arrested on November 16, 2017.
The Supreme Court had granted bail to Zaidi on April 5 this year followed by Negi and Joshi, who were granted bail on April 18 and April 25, respectively.
A 16-year-old girl in the Kotkhai area of Shimla went missing on her way back home on July 4, 2017. Her body was found in woods in Bankufar, close to Halaila village, two days later. The post-mortem had confirmed rape and murder and a case was registered. The incident triggered widespread protests across the state with infuriated public resorting to road blockades and angry mob torching a police station in Kotkhai.
Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by IGP Zaidi had arrested six accused, 10 days after the crime, on suspicion.
One of the suspects,Suraj Singh, was found dead in custody at the Kotkhai police station on July 18. Police had claimed that Singh died after a scuffle with another suspect in the lock up. The case was later handed over to the CBI, which indicted nine cops for the suspect’s death.
The probe found that Singh had died due police torture. The CBI had arrested the SIT officers along with Zaidi and Joshi in connection with the custodial death.
SIT was charged with murder, wrongful confinement to extort a confession and destroying evidence.
The CBI, in April last year, had claimed to have solved the case with the arrest of woodcutter Neelu. The agency claimed that Neelu committed the crime alone.
However, two forensic experts recently testified in the court that there was possibility of involvement of more than one person in the crime.
