Did cops hush up rape case for crores?

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 19

With no concrete evidence against four prime suspects in the infamous Kotkhai minor rape and murder case, the CBI is now focusing on the money angle that prompted the police to hush up the case.

The agency was handed over the case following allegations that the state police were trying to shield the real culprits. Besides various other leads, the CBI is now investigating the role of the police from money angle as it has not found any material evidence to prove the involvement of Rajender Singh (32), driver of a pick-up van; Subhash Singh Bisht (42), Deepak (29), deceased Nepali Suraj Singh (29), who was killed in the police lock-up, and Lok Jung (19).

Since it is clear that the police had tried to hush up the case, the money trail becomes significant as it will lead to the real culprits. Rumours of Rs 3 crore to Rs 13 crore transactions were doing rounds ever since the police implicated the labourers in the case.

The CBI had conducted scientific examination of the accused, including brain-mapping, but nothing conclusive surfaced, lending credence to the allegations that SIT deliberately arrested innocent persons to shield the real culprits.

Earlier, the DNA samples of these five accused, collected initially by the police, did not match with the forensic evidence of the culprits gathered from the spot and body of the victim.

Suraj was brutally killed around 11:30 pm on July 18 following which then DSP Manoj Joshi rushed to then SP DW Negi, both of them met then IG ZH Zaidi, who was heading SIT, and at 8:30 am the next day, an FIR was registered against Rajender in connection with the custodial death of Suraj.

The CBI has collected ample evidences against the arrested police officials and the chargesheet is almost ready in the custodial death case.

Sources said the arrest of the five accused, other than Ashish Chauhan, on the statement of Deepu, who is not mentally fit, had put the police in the dock.

The Tribune had earlier reported that Vinod, a friend of deceased Suraj, had stated that an influential person of the village, along with the police, had threatened Deepu, who is mentally disturbed, to give statement against the five accused. The CBI, which had been camping in Haliala, has also taken fresh blood samples of a number of suspects. CBI sleuths are also probing the outsider angle as competitions were going on in the victim’s school. However, Ashish Chauhan, who is involved in drug abuse, is still a suspect as bite marks on the body of the victim points towards possibility of culprit being under the influence of drugs.

As it is clear that the police had tried to hush up the case, the money trail becomes significant as it will lead to the real culprits. Rumours of Rs 3 crore to Rs 13 crore transactions were doing rounds ever since the police implicated the labourers in the case.

Police functioning under scanner

• Rajender’s (Raju) mother Kesri Devi had maintained that the day the minor girl was raped and murdered, Raju, Deepu and Suraj were spraying pesticide in apple orchards in the neighbourhood and came for lunch between 4:30pm and 6 pm.
• The pick-up van, which, the police claimed, was used to offer lift to the girl was not impounded and was seen parked outside Raju’s house — 100 metre from the spot where the body was found even after Suraj’s custodial death.
• The statement of santry Dinesh Sharma that he had not seen Raju killing Suraj and that the police station in-charge took Suraj out of the lock-up and was not back till his duty was over also raised questions. 
• Deceased Suraj’s friend Vinod had said an influential person of the village visited the house of Deepu, along with the police, and allegedly threatened Deepu, who is mentally disturbed, to get his statement recorded.
• DNA samples of the five accused, collected initially by the state police, did not match with the forensic evidences of culprits gathered from the spot and the body of the victim.