CBI Court Convicts Eight Himachal Police Officers in Custodial Death of Nepali National.

Chandigarh:

A CBI court in Chandigarh has convicted eight Himachal Pradesh police officials, including former Inspector General of Police (IG) Zahur Zaidi, in connection with the custodial death of Suraj, a Nepali national, during the investigation of the 2017 Kotkhai “Gudia” gang rape case. The convicted officers include former Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Theog, Manoj Joshi; Sub-Inspector (SI) Rajinder Singh; Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Deep Chand Sharma; Head Constables (HHC) Mohan Lal and Surat Singh; Constable Ranit Sateta; and Head Constable Rafee Mohammad.

However, former Shimla Superintendent of Police (SP) D.W. Negi was acquitted in the case. The court will announce the sentencing for the convicted officers on January 27.

The case dates back to July 2017 when a 16-year-old girl, referred to as “Gudia,” went missing in Kotkhai, and her body was discovered two days later in a forest. A Special Investigating Team (SIT) was formed under IG Zahur Zaidi to investigate the crime. During the investigation, Suraj, a suspect, died under suspicious circumstances while in police custody.

Initially, the police blamed another accused, Rajinder, for Suraj’s death. However, investigations later revealed that Suraj had likely been tortured by the police, leading to his death. This prompted the Himachal Pradesh government to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The CBI uncovered that the accused officers had destroyed key evidence related to Suraj’s death and submitted false reports to the Director General of Police (DGP), wrongly implicating Rajinder in the custodial killing. The convictions mark a significant step in the pursuit of justice for Suraj and underscore the issue of police misconduct in the state.