CBI announces Rs 10 lakh reward for info on Himachal's Kotkhai gangrape-murder case

SHIMLA: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday announced a reward of Rs. 10 lakh for "credible information" in a gangrape-murder case of a schoolgirl in Kotkhai area of Himachal Pradesh four months ago.

The 16-year-old girl was brutally gang-raped and killed in Kotkhai area of Shimla district while she was returning home from school on July 2 this year.

The accused had lured her into the vehicle by offering a lift. They then took turns to rape her before the murder. Her body was found at a nearby forest two days later. Police have arrested all six people involved in the crime.

The accused were farm labourers, aged between 19 and 42 years, and settled in Kotkhai area. The police described the crime as a “blind rape-murder case”.

In the absence of witness and CCTV footage of the crime scene, the police had to rely on other sources to nab the culprits. However, they still have to produce concrete evidence in court to prosecute them.

IG Zahur H. Zaidi, who is heading the SIT team probing the case, had said that most of the evidence at the crime scene was washed away by rains. The accused, who were drunk at the time of the crime, were arrested on the basis of circumstantial and confessional evidence.

The arrested accused were identified as Rajinder Singh, the prime accused who offered her lift, Ashish Chauhan, Subhash Bisht, Deepak Kumar, Surat Singh and Lokjan. Bisht and Kumar belong to Uttarakhand while Surat Singh and Lokjan are from Nepal.