Kotkhai custodial death: IPS officer Zaidi’s bail petition dismissed in High Court

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 1

Senior IPS officer from Himachal Zahur Haider Zaidi’s regular bail petition was today dismissed as withdrawn in the Kotkhai custodial death case.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court’s official website said his plea stood dismissed by Justice Arun Monga, though the order was yet to be uploaded.

Zaidi had initially moved the High Court following the cancellation of his bail by the UT CBI court after a prosecution witness stated that she was being pressured in an attempt to influence the trial.

Zaidi’s contention was that mere allegation regarding intimidation or threat could not form basis of the order.

He is an accused in the case related to the custodial death of a man who was among those arrested on the allegations of raping a minor at Kotkhai in Shimla district in 2017.

The girl had gone missing on July 4, 2017. Two days later, her body was found from the Halaila forests. Amid public outcry, an SIT headed by Zaidi was constituted. It arrested six persons, one of whom died in the police station, following which the investigations of both cases were handed over to the CBI.