Shimla, Sep 8: The Himachal Pradesh government has reportedly asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to foot a bill of approximately ₹12 lakh for the logistics provided to it by the state government for probing the Kotkhai rape and murder case.
For more than one month, CBI officials are camping at the state-run Hotel Peterhoff in Shimla, and have occupied six rooms.
Sources say, the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department Corporation (HPTDC), that owns the hotel, has written letters to the investigating agency, asking it to clear the dues. “We have asked them to pay the bills at the earliest,” said a HPTDC official, requesting anonymity.
The CBI officials had moved into Hotel Peterhoff, one of HPTDC’s prime properties, after the investigation in the Kotkhai rape and murder case was handed over to it on July 22.
Meanwhile, the state government’s general administration department has also handed over bills for vehicles used by the CBI. “The bills for taxis engaged for CBI is nearly ₹10 lakh. We have handed over the bills to them,” said an official privy to the facts.
Recently, during a hearing in the Kotkhai case in the Himachal Pradesh high court, the state government’s counsel had objected to CBI officials’ stay in state-run hotel. To this, the CBI responded that logistics are always provided by the state government concerned.
The probe into the Kotkhai case is being supervised by a joint director of the CBI. The investigating agency has so far questioned more than 300 people in this regard.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has cautioned the CBI to “not toe directions” of the Centre while probing the case. “The probe should not be delayed to provide advantage to any political party,” said former Shimla MLA Rakesh Singha.
Source Hindustan Times
