In a new twist in custodial death case of one of the accused in Gudia gangrape and murder case, the arrested Head Constable Mohan Lal had accused Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of ignoring facts in the case.

In a letter written to CBI court, Chief Minister, Governor and Director General of Police (DGP), Mohan alleged that the police officials who were involved in allegedly beating Suraj, an accused in Gudia case, had been made witnesses.

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“I had told these facts to CBI officials’ team during interrogations but these claims were ignored,” he alleged in his letter, a copy of which is with The Statesman.

“I had told the police officials including the then SHO Kotkhai Rajender Singh and DSP Theog, Manoj Joshi to not to excessively torture Suraj as it may cause him grievous injuries on the intervening night of 18-19 July.

But I was told to keep quiet and the torture had resulted in his death,” he said, adding CBI too ignored these facts.

“I wasn’t involved in custodial death but I was pressurized to confess,” he further alleged.

He had requested the authorities to handover the case to Crime Investigation Department (CID) or National Investigation Agency (NIA) for fair probe in the case.

It is worthwhile to mention here that CBI had arrested IG Zahur H Zaidi, ex-Shimla SP D W Negi, DSP Theog Manoj Joshi, SHO Rajender Singh, ASI Deep Chand Sharma, Head Constables Surat Singh, Mohan Lal and Rafiq Ali and Constable Ranjit Singh for custodial death.

Gudia, a tenth standard girl from Kotkhai, had gone missing while returning home from school on 4 July.

Her body was found in the woods on 6 July with multiple injuries on her body. Her autopsy had confirmed that she was gangraped and later, strangulated to death.

Following public outrage over ghastly crime, the government had constituted a SIT which had arrested six persons, one of whom was killed in police custody.

The case was later handed over to CBI for investigations after which nine cops were arrested for custodial death, though, the investigating agency is yet to make any headway in Gudia case.