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Rathore was not present in Chandigarh when Ruchika committed suicide: CBI

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has dashed hopes of justice for the family of teenager Ruchika Girhotra, who committed suicide on December 28, 1993, in Chandigarh after being allegedly molested by the then Haryana police chief S P S Rathore. The agency said on Wednesday that Rathore was not present in Chandigarh when Ruchika committed suicide. The CBI also claimed that the allegations of Ashu -- Ruchika's brother -- being tortured is unfounded since the Haryana top cop was away in Delhi on official assignments. Rathore is serving 18-month jail sentence for molesting Ruchika in 1990, and has filed for a closure in an Amabala court. The CBI gave a point-by-point rebuttal to all the eight charges made by Ruchika's father S C Girhotra and another four allegations made by Ashu, who claimed that he was taken home in a semi-nude condition and also false cases were slapped on him for an auto theft at the behest of Rathore. In the first case, Girhotra had alleged that after his daughter consumed poison on December 28, 1993, he was forced by Rathore -- the then inspector general (telecom) -- to take her to PGI Hospital, Chandigarh, and during the post-mortem the magistrate was not called by the police. In its report, the CBI claimed that the allegations could not be substantiated "as per the documentary evidence and oral testimony of witnesses". As per the closure report, "Ruchika had consumed poison in the morning of December 28, 1993, at her home in Panchkula and that she was taken to PGI hospital by Girhotra and his second wife Veena on their own." The CBI claimed that the victim was first taken to a nursing home at Sector-8 in Panchkula by her father and stepmother from where she was referred to PGI since the general hospital in the area was undergoing construction. At PGI Chandigarh, the name of Ruchika was mentioned as "Ruby" by her father and during investigation, the CBI claimed that this was her nickname -- a finding that has also been corroborated by the other family members. Girhotra had claimed that Rathore had given instructions that her daughter's body was not released by the PGI authorities and hence he had to spend the night outside the mortuary. But, his relatives said he came back home once he was told that the body would only be released the following day. According to the CBI, Ashu's involvement in criminal activities had been revealed by one of his `accomplices' Sandeep Verma, who is alleged to be involved in several cases of auto thefts. Verma was chargeshetted by the police in 14 cases while Ashu in six cases. Another loophole discovered by the CBI in his complaint was that the disclosure given by his co-accused Gajender Singh on December 16, 1993, corroborated Ashu's statement, who was arrested on October 25 and granted bail on November 13. The arrest of Singh also led to the recovery of six vehicles allegedly stolen by Ashu and his gang. The CBI has found other allegations made by Ashu to be "baseless" following examination of independent witnesses. For instance, contrary to his claims, two of his maternal uncles have corroborated that Ashu was present during his sister's cremation.

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