Protesters attack police station even as Governor summons DGP and seeks report on the incident

The rape and murder of a schoolgirl in Kotkhai tehsil of Shimla district on Wednesday took a mysterious turn when one of the accused, Suraj Kumar, was killed in police custody, reportedly by another accused.

Suraj belongs to Nepal and has been lodged in the Kotkhai police station since his arrest last week along with five others, mostly from Uttarakhand.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, when asked about the case, appeared to trivialise the issue and told reporters that “rape and murder happens everywhere and there is nothing new.”

The police said Suraj was an eyewitness in the rape-cum-murder case and was reportedly ready to become a prosecution witness.

Angered by the killing in the lock-up, a mob attacked the Kotkhai police station, setting ablaze vehicles and hurling stones in which at least four policemen, including an Assistant Superintendent of Police, were injured. The protesters refused to believe the police version and questioned how a person could be killed while in the lock-up.

The angry protesters also blocked the Hatkoti-Theog and the Hindustan-Tibet highways for hours due to which hundreds of people were stranded.

The police faced a tough time even in shifting the injured to hospital. After much effort, three of the injured policemen were admitted to a local hospital while one critically injured was referred to the Indira Gandhi Medical College here.

To keep the situation under control, additional police force was rushed to Kotkhai, as the authorities feared the killing would trigger outrage.

The people of the district, including Kotkhai, Theog, Gumma and Shimla and its suburbs, have been protesting everyday and demanding the arrest of what they called the “real” culprits.

They said the names and photographs of the “real” culprits were disclosed on Twitter by the Chief Minister but was withdrawn subsequently.

Governor Acharya Devvrat has summoned State Director General of Police Somesh Goyal and has sought a report from the government on the case.

In a letter to the chief secretary, Mr Devvrat said the alleged rape and murder of the minor girl was a serious matter which had angered people across the state.

The High Court also summoned the state Director General of Police (DGP) and sought a report.

Mr Virbhadra Singh, who has not visited Kotkhai so far and had lauded the police for “cracking” the case, said he had written to the CBI for a probe.

He came back midway from his tour of Mandi district and got agitated when told that the opposition has raised the matter in Parliament and approached the Home Ministry for an “impartial probe.”

“So what Rajnath Singh will not attack me,” he said and blamed the media and the opposition for defaming him.