Shimla schoolgirl rape and murder case: Court satisfied with progress of CBI probe, next hearing on 20 December

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday expressed satisfaction over the progress of the CBI probe in the Kotkhai rape-murder case and the custodial death case, and fixed the next hearing on 20 December. A division comprising Acting Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sandeep Sharma perused the status report submitted by the CBI in both the cases and directed that a charge-sheet be filed in the case of custodial death by 30 November. The high court had transferred the case to the CBI after the death of Suraj, an accused in the rape and killing of a schoolgirl, in police custody on 19 July and is closely monitoring the progress of investigation. [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] The CBI has so far submitted five status reports and had asked for two months’ time but the CBI fixed the next hearing on 20 December. The counsel for CBI Anshul Bansal said a 70-page report was submitted today and the charge-sheet would be filed in the custodial death case by 30 November. The CBI had arrested eight police officials, including Inspector General of Police Z H Zaidi and DSP Manoj Joshi, in the custodial death case and also got their narco test conducted. The CBI had arrested six accused in the Kothkai rape and murder case and all of them were released on bail by the district court. A sixteen-year-old girl had gone missing on 4 July last and her naked body was recovered from Halalia forests in Kotkhai area. A case of rape and murder was registered after the post-mortem report confirmed rape and murder. The incident triggered public outcry and protests and the DGP constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by an IG rank officer but it was disbanded after the custodial death of Suraj and the transfer of the twin cases to the CBI.