Former police chief's face slashed outside Indian court

Chandigarh: Former Haryana police chief S.P.S. Rathore’s face was slashed by a knife outside the district court complex in Chandigarh, India, on Monday.

He was coming out of court after appearing in the 14-year-old Ruchika Girhotra molestation case, for which he has been convicted.

TV images showed Rathore with injury marks on his face. Rathore was taken to the hospital. His condition is said to be stable.

The attacker has been taken into custody.

Witnesses say the man was holding a video camera in an attempt to pose as a journalist, NDTV reported. The police believe this was a pre-planned attack.

Rathore, who retired as Haryana's senior-most policeman in 2002, is also charged with driving Ruchika to commit suicide by harassing her family after she complained against him in 1990. The case against Rathore is being investigated by the CBI.

Earlier in the day, the court had ordered in-camera proceedings in the case.