‘Dismiss Himachal Pradesh govt, impose President’s Rule’

Shimla: The BJP on Saturday accused the Virbhadra Singh-led Congress government of failing to handle law and order situation in Himachal Pradesh and demanded its dismissal and imposition of the president’s rule.
A party delegation, led by former chief minister P K Dhumal, met Governor Acharya Devvrat and handed him memorandum in support of their demands. The party, in the memorandum, alleged that law and order situation has virtually collapsed in the state, resulting in sharp increase in heinous crimes.
The government and the police tried to cover the Kotkhai minor gangrape and murder case stood expose by investigations made so far by the CBI, the memorandum said.
“The arrest of eight police officials including an IG rank officer by the CBI was shocking and disturbing as the incident has sullied the image of the state and shamed the state known as ‘Dev Bhumi'”, Dhumal said.
Asserting that the role of the police was under suspicion right from the beginning as the father of the victim had said that he was being pressurised, Dhumal said that the killing of an accused of Kotkhai rape and murder case in the police custody in Kotkhai police station, soon after the constitution of Special Investigation Team (SIT), spoke volumes of insensitive, callous and inhuman attitude of the government as the chief minister dubbed the ghastly act as a routine crime.
Dhumal said that the credibility of the police has sunk to the lowest ebb as the apprehensions and allegations of the people that the police was implicating wrong people in the case to save the real culprits and the CBI would not only the police but also those exerting pressure on the police to twist the direction of the probe. (PTI)