The CBI has decided to set up a temporary office in Shimla or Theog to probe into the rape and murder of a Class X student at Halaila in Kotkhai, 56 km from Shimla. The agency will also summon key suspects for interrogation in the next few days. Sources said the team leader, a DIG-rank officer, Monday met senior police officers, including DGP Somesh Goyal, and sought help to make the SIT functional this week. The central agency is required to submit a status report by August 2. Sources said a CBI team had left for Halaila to visit the spot where the body of the girl and her belongings, including her uniform, were found on July 6 — two days after she went missing. Another team was in the town to study the case file. They added that forensic experts from Delhi would be called for examination of the body of accused Suraj Singh, a 29-year-old Nepali labourer who died in police custody. The body has been kept in the mortuary at Indira Gandhi Medical college as the CBI has told police not to hand it over to his family yet. Meanwhile, large-scale protests were held near the state secretariat in Shimla Monday on a call given by a joint action committee of several organisations.
