Panchkula, Dec. 12 -- A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Panchkula has formally framed charges against four Haryana Police officers in the sensational 2017 murder case of a seven-year-old Gurugram schoolboy - a case that triggered nationwide outrage, and exposed grave lapses in the original police investigation.

The officers facing trial are Narinder Singh Khatana, then SHO of Bhondsi police station; Birem Singh, then assistant commissioner of police, Sohna; Shamsher Singh, then sub-inspector at Bhondsi; and Subhash Chand, then ESI. All four have been charged under an array of Indian Penal Code provisions, including 120B (criminal conspiracy), 166A (disobedience of law), 167 (preparing an incorrect document), 194 (fabricati...