Arrest in Gudiya case throws up more questions than answers for the CBI

The arrest of a woodcutter by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the infamous 'Gudiya' rape and murder case in Himachal Pradesh has thrown up more questions than answers.

The CBI arrested Anil Kumar alias Nilu of Baijnath area in Kangra district for the rape and murder of a girl from Shirgul village of Theog area of Shimla, who has since then been referred to as 'Gudiya'. Nilu's DNA samples allegedly matches the genetic material found at the spot, according to the CBI team that worked on the case for nine months.

“The team started by thoroughly combing the various areas, including forests, where the body of the victim was found; and questioned over 1,000 people in this sparsely populated region. It collected around 250 blood samples and forensic experts conducted various tests including DNA profiling by using advance techniques of ‘percentage match’ and ‘lineage match’,” a CBI spokesperson said. 

“After thorough examining of these scientific tests, the DNA profiles extracted from samples seized from scene of crime were matched with the DNA samples. 

“The area of investigation included Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Uttarakhand etc. It was also alleged that the arrested accused did not carry any mobile phone and was not in touch with his family but the CBI kept watch on certain people whom he could call from public phones or phones of the other people. Subsequently, the suspect was tracked and apprehended from a village near Hatkoti in Shimla,” he added.

This contradicts the theory given by Himachal Pradesh Police: That 'Gudiya' was raped and strangled by six people on her way back from school; that they dumped her body in a forest near Kotkhai.

The CBI claims that Nilu and Gudiya were crossing the forest where the accused committed the crime. The DNA samples of the accused arrested by the police did not match the samples found on Gudiya's clothes.

The police have aready faced considerable heat due to the custodial death of Suraj, a Nepalese worker, who was earlier arrested along with some others in the case. With the CBI now turning the case on its head, the police stands in a very poor light.

This also raises questions. First, Who were the four suspects whose pictures were uploaded and subsequesntly removed from former chief minister Virbhadra Singh's Facebook page? Did the CBI or the police find and interrogate them?

Next comes the earlier arrest of six people and the subsequent death of Suraj, which led the CBI to arrest personnel of the police special investigation team (SIT), including Inspector-General Zahur H Zaidi.

Rakesh Singha of the Communist Party of India, who represents Theog at the state Assembly, pointed out that the director-general of police on 14 July last year announced arrests of the accused, whereas they were actually arrested later that night. “It means that the lower staff was under pressure to pick up people when the arrests had been announced,”Singha said.

“The police kept saying the girl was raped and killed on the spot, but the post-mortem report points to something else. Suraj's wife has said he was money and was talking about getting their mortgaged land free soon. We demand her statement be recorded. Why is the CBI not doing so?” he added.

Some quarters have been raising another doubt: That the SIT would hardly risk arresting the wrong people, extract a fake confession and then face a case of custodial death for a mere woodcutter.

This brings to the fore the public perception that matters are being hushed up to perhaps save some well-connected people.

The case had rocked the small, hilly state and had threatened to be the nemesis of the Virbhadra Singh-led Congress government. Eventually it did contribute to the Congress' loss in its stronghold of upper Himachal.