‘Expected to join Monday’: Himachal drug officer shifted from Dharamshala to Shimla

Confirming this, a senior officer said: “Nishant Sareen has been directed to report at the Shimla-based headquarters immediately. He is expected to join on Monday.”

This came days after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided seven premises linked to Sareen, his father-in-law Ramesh Kumar Gupta, and associate Dr Komal Khanna on June 22-23.

The federal probe agency also claimed to have seized 40 bank accounts, fixed deposit receipts (FDRs), three bank lockers, over 60 unaccounted liquor bottles, and two luxury vehicles estimated to be worth Rs 32 lakh from his residence in Mohali’s New Chandigarh, officials said on Thursday.

According to the ED, the raids were conducted in connection with allegations of “corruption”, “bribery”, and “misuse of official positions” during Sareen’s previous posting as the ADC in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.

Sareen, however, claimed the “true picture” of the seizures is not being presented.

Alleging “professional rivalry”, “malafide complaints”, and “personal vendetta” against him, Sareen told The Indian Express over the phone: “Of the 40 bank accounts (seized), only three are in my name. The rest belong to my relatives including my wife, daughter, father-in-law, cousins, and others. Also, since when did used vehicles like a Scorpio qualify as luxury vehicles? The enforcement agencies failed to recover even a single penny of unaccounted money from my house. As for the liquor bottles, I have a valid permit from the department concerned to store them.”

Meanwhile, the investigation into an FIR registered against Sareen, and two others was recently transferred from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to the Haryana Police in Panchkula.

The FIR was registered at the Sector 20 police station, Panchkula, on October 29, 2022, against Sareen, Dr Khanna, Vinay Aggarwal, and several unidentified persons under the charges of forgery, cheating, and using fake documents.

In May 2024, the FIR was transferred to the CBI, following a petition by complainant Jagbir Singh in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, stating that the role of certain senior Haryana Police officers was also under scanner in the case. Jagbir further said that to force him to take back the FIR, a false FIR was registered against him in Panchkula.

On May 17 last year, Justice Manjari Nehru Kaul had ordered transfer of the probe to the CBI.

“Although the CBI registered a fresh FIR against the three suspects, following the high court’s directions, two of them — Vinay Aggarwal and Dr Komal Khanna — approached the Supreme Court against the transfer of the probe to the CBI. The Supreme Court allowed their plea and transferred the case back to the Haryana Police in Panchkula. The matter is now being investigated by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Panchkula Police,” sources said.

A senior Panchkula Police officer said: “The case against Nishant Sareen, Vinay Aggarwal, Dr Komal Khanna, and others is being handled by the EOW. Nishant Sareen had joined the investigation before the case was transferred to the CBI. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court later stayed the investigation, following a plea by one Jagbir Singh. The next hearing is scheduled for July 7.”