The Himachal Pradesh High Court today rejected the bail plea of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Z H Zaidi in connection with thecustodial death of an accused in the Kotkhai rape and murder of a minor girl. The court had heard the bail plea on January 12 and reserved the judgement which was announced today. Rejecting the bail plea, Justice Sandeep Sharma observed that it would not be appropriate to grant bail to the petitioner at this stage. It further observed that the alleged crime was of serious nature anda detailed investigation was required in this case. Zaidi and seven others were arrested in the custodial death case of Suraj, who was found dead in the Kotkhai police station on July 18 night. The CBI has already filed the charge-sheet against the accused. A 16-year-old girl had gone missing in the Kotkhai area on July 4 and her body was found from the Halaila forests on July 6. The post mortem report confirmed rape and murder and a case was registered, and amid huge public outcry an SIT, headed by Zaidi was constituted. The SIT arrested six people, one of whom died in the police station, following which the high court handed over the investigations of both the cases to the CBI on July 19.
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