A constable, who was a key prosecution witness in the 2017 Kotkhai custodial death case, has sought witness protection, a stay on his suspension and transfer of all inquiries concerning him outside Himachal Pradesh, alleging harassment and threats following his testimony against police personnel convicted in the case.
The SIT arrested six persons in connection with the case, including Suraj Singh. The Himachal Pradesh high court subsequently handed over the investigation into both cases to the CBI. Former Shimla SP DW Negi was acquitted.
Kumar was posted at Kotkhai police station on July 18, 2017, when Suraj Singh, one of the suspects arrested in connection with the rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl, died in police custody. Suraj died at the Kotkhai police station on the night of July 18, 2017. The Supreme Court later transferred the custodial death trial from Shimla to the CBI court in Chandigarh in 2019. In January 2025, the CBI court convicted Zaidi and seven other police personnel and sentenced them to life imprisonment for Suraj’s custodial death.
He has therefore sought that the inquiries be handed over to an authority outside the state police, suggesting the CBI, Chandigarh Police, a retired district judge or a special investigation team constituted by the high court.
Kumar told the CBI court in Chandigarh that he had given a truthful statement in the case. The constable said he did not have confidence that an inquiry conducted by an officer appointed by the Himachal Pradesh DGP would be impartial.
The case dates back to July 2017, when a 16-year-old girl went missing from Kotkhai on July 4, and her body was recovered from a forest area two days later. Amid public outrage, a special investigation team headed by then IGP Zahur Haider Zaidi was constituted.
