Expressing anguish and dismay, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, JP Nadda, today termed the arrest of police officers in Gudiya Rape and Murder case as abysmal governance leading to loss of faith of general public and civil society in government institution and loss of public face for hitherto very professional and honest police department of the state.
Nadda said the recent development in the case has raised suspicion over the intension of investigating agency. He said
“Though the investigation is underway and the matter is subjudice, the actual culprits of this dastardly act are yet to be nabbed and prosecuted. Yet, the arrest of complete SIT by CBI is not something routine and usual step. This shows that the officials sitting at the top tried to influence the direction of this case”
Nadda stated the BJP has been demanding a fair investigation in this case since very beginning. BJP has echoed general sentiments of the public, which were against the state police investigation flip-flop under apparent pressure from the highest political establishment running the state government. He commented
“This is unprecedented and unusual situation where an IG rank officer of state police has to be arrested by CBI. The present government has created an utter mess so far as law and order machinery and other administrative aspects are concerned, Nadda said. The whole tenure of the present government is synonymous with nepotism, corruption and inefficiency and now towards the fag end of this dispensation, things have gone from bad to worse. The Chief Minister of the state and party are at loggerheads and busy in making a beeline at 10 Janpath rather than caring for minimal governance for which they have been mandated,”
Nadda further elaborated that it would be a challenging task to restore sanity and confidence in state machinery responsible for maintaining law and order and discharging other administrative works for the next government. “The people of the state are genuinely angry with this inefficient, corrupt and jaded government and want to put in place BJP government in the state, he added.
Earlier, yesterday CBI has arrested eight police personnel including Inspector-General of Police, Zahoor H Zaidi, DSP Manoj Joshi in connection of alleged custodial death of a gang-rape and murder accused in Shimla. The CBI today only summoned ASP Bhajan Negi and DSP Ratan Negi to Delhi to join the investigations into the custodial death. Both these officers were members of the special investigation team (SIT) constituted by the state police in the Kotkhai minor rape and murder case.
In another revelation, it’s learned that the DNA samples of eight persons collected initially by the police have not matched with the forensic evidence of culprits gathered from the crime scene and the victim’s body, lending credence to the allegations that the SIT deliberately arrested innocent persons to shield the culprits.
The state police had boosted of having substantial proof of forensic and evidences to justify the arrest if six accused in the case and now with each passing days all its claims are proving wrong and hinting at involvement of even police personnel in the case. Locals have blamed police for shielding real culprits and implicating innocents in the case.
