Shimla schoolgirl rape and murder case: Court grants bail to accused as CBI fails to file chargesheet

Shimla: A sessions court in Shimla on Saturday granted bail to Ashish Chauhan, an accused in the Kotkhai Gudia rape and murder case. He was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Inspector General Z H Zaidi on 12 July. The court granted the bail on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh and two guarantees of Rs 10 lakh each. [caption id=“attachment_3817317” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Protesters stage a demonstration to demand justice for a 16-year-old school girl who was raped and murdered in Kotkhai, Shimla. PTI[/caption] Chauhan was granted bail as the CBI failed to file the chargesheet within 90 days, it said. Zaidi, Deputy Superintendent of Police Manoj Joshi and six other police officers were arrested by the CBI on July 29 and remanded to police custody till September 4 for the death of Suraj in police custody. Zaidi was investigating the rape and murder of a minor girl in Kotkhai on 4 July, whose body was found two days later. The case later came to be known as “Gudiya” rape-and-murder case. He had arrested six people in the case, but one of the accused - Suraj - died in police custody. The case was handed over to the CBI on direction of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.