The Punjab and Haryana High Court has suspended the life imprisonment of former Himachal Pradesh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Zahur Haider Zaidi in the 2017 custodial death case of an accused in the gang rape and murder of a girl in the hill state.
Zaidi, along with seven other policemen, was awarded life imprisonment by a special CBI court in Chandigarh in January in the custodial death case of Suraj, who was found dead at the Kotkhai police station in Himachal Pradesh on July 18, 2017.
Reportedly, a 16-year-old girl went missing in Kotkhai on July 4, 2017, and her body was found in the Halaila forests two days later. The post-mortem report confirmed rape and murder. Amid huge public outcry in the State, a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Zaidi was constituted. Suraj was among six people arrested by the SIT. In May 2019, the Supreme Court transferred the case related to the custodial death from Shimla to Chandigarh.
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Justices Anoop Chitkara and Sukhvinder Kaur on Tuesday (December 24, 2025) issued directions for the release of Zaidi, directing him to furnish a bail bond of ₹25,000. The court order noted a lack of motive and prolonged period of incarceration undergone by the officer.
