The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday directed Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director to file affidavit in Kotkhai rape-murder case on 8 May.

The division bench of acting Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Sharma expressed displeasure and asked the CBI counsel to submit personal affidavit of Director on 8 May.

The court will take the final call on the personal appearance of CBI Director based on the affidavit. If the court is not satisfied with the affidavit then the director will have to appear before it on 9 May.

The court observation came despite the fact that the CBI assured that the entire probe is being monitored by the CBI Director and even the present status report has also been monitored by him.

Earlier, the CBI told the court that it was their last status report in the case and they have cracked the case.

The arrested accused has been produced before the court on Wednesday and has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

The CBI counsel assured the court that they will file chargesheet in the case within stipulated time period of 90 days.

On Monday, the CBI, who brought the accused from Delhi, took him to the forest near Kotkhai to identify the crime scene at Bankufar and gather evidence pertaining to the case. He was also taken to a nearby temple which is also considered to be linked with the crime.

He was later brought to Shimla for further investigations.

Sources said the accused, who was arrested on 15 April and whose identity has not yet been revealed, has allegedly confessed to have committed the crime.

The case pertains to gangrape and murder of a 16-year-old girl in Kotkhai area of Shimla district, which shook the state in July 2017.

The state government had sought court intervention to hand over the investigation of case to the CBI after public pressure.

However, during the pendency of the petition, one of the six accused, arrested by the state police in the case, was killed in the lock-up on 19 July 2017, which flared up the public sentiments more.

While the court ordered a CBI probe into the Kotkhai rape-murder case on 19 July, it also asked CBI to probe the custodial death.

Nine arrests, including that of an Inspector General of Police heading the state Investigation team, have so far been made accused in the custodial death case and all of them are behind the bars.