Himachal Pradesh: CBI to probe Kotkhai rape-murder case; angry mob vandalises police vehicle in Theog

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government on Friday ordered a Centre Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the rape and murder of a minor girl after irate residents refused to listen to the administration and took to streets. 

A day after police claimed to solve the rape-murder case with the arrest of six suspects, the angry mob vandalised police vehicles in Theog alleging that the police did not arrest the real accused. 

Earlier in the morning, people from different walks of life in Kotkhai and Chopal assembly segment had begun to assemble in Theog where the police had to produce in court the six accused arrested in the rape case.

The mob raised slogans against the government and the state police and blocked the main national highway connecting Kalka to the Sino-India border point Kauirik. 

When the police tried to stop the mob from marching towards the police station, the agitators vandalised the police vehicles.

According to Hindustan Times, a group of youngsters in the mob even manhandled Shimla superintendent of police as they objected to photojournalists capturing incidents. 

Later, an additional force from Shimla was called in to control the crowd.

 On Thursday, the Himachal Pradesh police arrested at least six accused, aged between 19 and 42, in connection with the case.

On July 4, a 16-year-old girl was offered a lift in a vehicle by the accused when she was returning home from school. On the way, the accused raped and murdered her at a nearby forest. Her body was found two days later.