Shimla, July 26: A CBI team today re-examined the body of Suraj, an accused in the Kotkhai minor rape and murder case, who died in the police custody on July 18. A team of four members, an SP and three forensic experts, reportedly from Delhi, minutely examined the body for about four hours in the IGMC mortuary under tight police security and also verified the videos and photographs of post-mortem earlier conducted by doctors. The body of the deceased would be handed over to his family tomorrow.
The custody of five accused, Ashish Chauhan alias Ashu (29), Rajender Singh alias Raju (32) (driver of a pick-up van), Subash Singh Bisht (42), Deepak alias Deepu (29) and Lok Jung alias Chotu (19), have been handed over to the CBI for investigations. Another team of CBI consisting of eight personnel including forensic experts from Central Forensic laboratory arrived at Forest Rest house Kotkhai, and met the maternal uncle of the victim who was first to spot the body on July 6 in the Haliala forest. The team also questioned some people and, after getting inputs, went to the spot of crime and carefully examined the area again.
The CBI sleuths, who were equipped with modern instruments, also took measurements on the spot for verifying that whether the crime was committed at the same place or the body was dumped at the spot later. The team is likely to meet the family of the victim and also question the widow of Suraj. As per the police, the crime was committed on the spot from where the body was recovered. However, the locals opined that the place of crime was somewhere else as there was a remote possibility of the body not being spotted by anyone for two days and, moreover, it was not attacked by animal.
In an informal chat with mediapersons, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said it was a serious matter and the guilty would be punished. “I had written to the CBI for taking over the investigations of the case,” he said, adding that, “I am a father of four daughters and can understand the pain of the victim’s family”
Source Tribune India
