In a twist to the sensational gang-rape and murder of a schoolgirl in Himachal Pradesh, the prime suspect allegedly murdered a fellow accused in the case in the police lock-up on Wednesday, the police said.
Rajinder Singh allegedly killed Surat Singh, a Nepalese, by smashing his head on the floor, a police official here told IANS.
He said what caused Rajinder Singh to kill Surat Singh is yet to be ascertained.
"Both of them had a scuffle over some issue and Surat got grievous head injuries. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead," the police official added.
As the incident in Kotkhai police lock-up, around 54 km from the state capital, came to light, a large number of locals gathered and forcibly entered the police station, assaulting police personnel for their lapses in the killing of one of the six accused of the girl's gangrape and murder.
The mob ransacked the police station and didn't allow critically injured policemen to be taken to a hospital for treatment.
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Massive protests continued in Shimla district since the murder of a schoolgirl.
The family of the girl suspect that the "real culprits", who it says belong to high-profile families, have gotten away scot-free.
Last week, the state government agreed to recommend a CBI probe into the case.
"Earlier, we were told that the accused belonged to high-profile families and they were on the run," the girl's eldest sister told reporters in Kotkhai town.
Suddenly, the police arrested six persons, four of whom were labourers -- two from Uttarakhand and two from Nepal, she said.
"We are demanding justice for our sister. Our protests will continue till the real culprits are apprehended," she added.
The police say the 16-year-old girl was offered a lift in a vehicle by the accused on July 4 when she was returning home from school. On the way, they raped and murdered her in a nearby forest. Her body was found two days later.
The arrested persons are prime accused Rajinder Singh, who offered her the lift, Ashish Chauhan, Subhash Bisht, Deepak Kumar, Surat Singh and Lokjan.
The police said that the prime accused had developed a familiarity with the victim, as he offered her lifts twice earlier.
The victim's father questioned the delay in handing over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
"We were told that the case has been handed over to the CBI. But no CBI official has so far started investigation in the case," he said.
--IANS
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