CBI court pronounces life imprisonment for Himachal IGP Zaidi, seven other police in custodial death case

During the arguments on the quantum of sentence, the counsels of the convicts prayed before the court for leniency based on their age, family commitments and good service records.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) logo.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) logo. (File Photo)
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CHANDIGARH: A Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Monday sentenced Himachal Pradesh Inspector General of Police Zahur Haider Zaidi and seven other police personnel to life imprisonment in a case of custodial death of an accused in a gang rape and murder of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in Kotkhai of the hill state.

After hearing arguments, the Additional District and Session Judge-cum-Special CBI Judge Alka Malik sentenced the eight accused police personnel to life imprisonment.

The eight accused included IGP Zahur Haider Zaidi, the then Deputy Superintendent of Police Manoj Joshi, Sub-Inspector Rajinder Singh, Assistant Sub-Inspector Deep Chand Sharma, Mohan Lal, Surat Singh, Rafee Mohammad and Ranit Sateta.

Himachal Pradesh Inspector General of Police Zahur Haider Zaidi.
Himachal Pradesh Inspector General of Police Zahur Haider Zaidi.(Photo | Express)

The court also recommended awarding compensation to family members of the victim Suraj Singh under the victim compensation scheme, while the CBI Public Prosecutor Amit Jindal argued for exemplary punishment due to the seriousness of the crime.

During the arguments on the quantum of sentence, the counsels of the convicts prayed before the court for leniency based on their age, family commitments and good service records.

On January 18 the court convicted all the accused and acquitted the then Superintendent of Police D W Negi.

The prosecution examined over 52 witnesses in the case. On July 4, 2017, a 16-year-old girl had gone missing in Kotkhai near Shimla and her body was found from the forests two days later on July 6.

The post-mortem report had confirmed rape and murder later, a case was registered.

On July 13, 2017, a Special Investigating Team (SIT) headed by Zaidi was constituted by the then state government after public and outcry, which arrested Suraj Singh and four other alleged accused.

On the intervening night of July 18 and 19, Singh died in police custody as per the CBI; the state police allegedly tortured him to extract his confession.

The medical board concluded in its report that the injuries on the body of the deceased were sustained by a blunt hard cylindrical object such as lathi, rod or baton.

The post-mortem showed over 20 injuries on Suraj’s body which, the CBI claimed, could not have been sustained in a scuffle. Another report by a board of AIIMS doctors too confirmed torture.

However, the Himachal Pradesh Police has then claimed that he was killed by another accused in a scuffle in the lock-up.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court then handed over the investigations of both the cases to the CBI.

After registering the case on July 22, 2017, the CBI had then arrested Zaidi and other police personnel. The CBI stated in the chargesheet that the eight accused destroyed evidence relating to Suraj’s death.

They were also accused of submitting fabricated reports to the DGP to prove Suraj was killed by another accused in police lockup following a scuffle.

In 2019, the Supreme Court transferred this case of custodial death from Shimla to Chandigarh on a plea filed by the CBI for expeditious disposal of the case.

Zaidi, a 1994 batch IPS officer, was awarded the president’s police medal for meritorious service in 2010. Zaidi was reinstated in November 2019 after he was released on bail on April 5, 2019, by the Supreme Court.

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