Where Does the CBI Investigation into the Kothkai Rape Case Stand?

The sun rises in the Kothkai forest.

(Photo: Aishwarya S Iyer/The Quint)

The Shimla High Court has repeatedly rapped the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for not finding anything conclusive in their probe into the July 2017 rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl in Kotkhai despite investigating the matter for about ten months now.

The court has directed the CBI to file a fresh status report by 25 April and summoned the CBI director on 9 May.

In the latest efforts from CBI, who took the case up on 22 July last year, a lumberjack was arrested on 14 April. His identity has been kept under wraps. The CBI teams are once again on the lookout for more clues to nab the accused in the Bankufur forests, ahead of Halaila village, where the body of the girl was found on 6 July, last year.

There are only dense forests on Gudiya’s way back home from school.(Photo: Aishwarya S Iyer/The Quint)

The accused was zeroed-in on with the help of forensic analysis of the crime spot. Investigators were looking for him for quite some time. Finally, he was located and arrested last (Friday) night. He was produced before the court, which has remanded him to CBI’s custody till 25 April.

A CBI official familiar with the matter told <i><a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/key-suspect-in-kotkhai-rape-and-murder-case-arrested/story-BAE6PYPCDd1vJcEH4hVZpN.html">Hindustan Times</a>.</i><i></i>

The official added that the accused, who has a criminal history, had gone missing after the crime was committed.

The CBI in their investigation as of now has taken blood samples of more than 150 people and questioned around 400 people living in and around the forests. On 15 December last year, the CBI announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone who could provide relevant information on the accused.

Probe Into Custodial Death

Before the case was handed over to the CBI, an SIT under the Himachal Pradesh government was investigating the matter. On 12 July, the SIT, headed by Inspector General (IG) southern range S Zahur Zaidi, arrested six men and announced that the case had been solved on 13 July.

This was followed by outrage as locals had a strong feeling that the real culprits went scot-free while others were being falsely implicated. Shimla and Kothkai observed a spate of protests in its wake. The matter took a violent turn, when on 19 July, one of the accused, a Nepalese by the name Suraj, died in police custody. In the violent protests that ensued, the Kothkai police station was set on fire too.

The case was handed over to the CBI thereafter. The CBI arrested the SIT head, Zaidi and seven other policemen on 29 August last year in the custodial death case. The Shimla superintendent of police, D W Negi was also arrested on 16 September last year. A month later the CBI filed a chargesheet against Zaidi and other seven policemen arrested but not against Negi. The matter is pending trial in court.

(With inputs from Hindustan Times)