Supreme Court transfers custodial death case to Chandigarh

The trial in the case was moved to Chandigarh after the Central Bureau of Investigation and the police officers, who have been named accused in the custodial death case, said they had no objection if it was no longer heard in Shimla.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday transferred a case related to the alleged custodial death of a suspect, arrested in connection with the gang rape and murder of a minor schoolgirl in Himachal Pradesh in 2017, from Shimla to Chandigarh.

Six persons were arrested by a special investigation team formed to the probe the case. However, the case was transferred to the CBI after one of the suspects allegedly died in police custody on July 18, 2017. (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

The trial in the case was moved to Chandigarh after the Central Bureau of Investigation and the police officers, who have been named accused in the custodial death case, said they had no objection if it was no longer heard in Shimla. The gang rape-cum-murder of the minor was reported from Kotkhai district in Himachal Pradesh July 6, 2017.

Six persons were arrested by a special investigation team formed to the probe the case. However, the case was transferred to the CBI after one of the suspects allegedly died in police custody on July 18, 2017.

“We order transfer of the case to a competent CBI court in Chandigarh,” a bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said on Tuesday. The court was informed that the charge sheet has been filed in the case against police officers, including former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Zahur Haider Zaidi. The top court had last month granted bail to Zaidi, who along with seven other policemen were arrested by the central agency in the case.