Vimal Negi death case: Shimla SP opens front against DGP, alleges ‘Misled HC, his personal staff leaked CID report…’

DGP Atul Verma refused to comment saying, “I am not interested to say anything on this”.

Gandhi’s remarks came a day after the Himachal Pradesh HC handed over the probe into Negi’s death to the CBI. In its order, HC had noted that the DGP has raised “grave concerns about the mode and manner in which the investigation is being carried out”.

Gandhi told reporters that it came “to notice that a member of the personal staff of the DGP had links with Sanjay Bhuria gang” allegedly involved in the drug trade.

He also said a false report was submitted “at the behest of DGP Verma” in the Vinay Aggarwal case. Aggarwal was booked for allegedly carrying out extortion in HP’s industrial areas.

Gandhi said the “involvement of DGP’s personal staff have also been found in leaking of a confidential document report from the CID following which an FIR was registered in the case, and I have no hesitation in saying that pressure was built to obstruct the investigation on several occasions”.

Gandhi headed the SIT probing the death of Negi, who was a chief engineer with Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL).

The case stirred a political storm, with the opposition BJP alleging a cover-up. Gandhi said he would prefer to resign than tolerate such insults, and vowed to present facts and documents in court to “expose” the DGP’s alleged “ulterior motives”.

The senior IPS officer claimed that he and his team had to overcome several hurdles from within the police force to proceed ahead with the probe in Negi’s death case. He said a pen drive, carrying critical forensic evidence had been formatted. “We managed to retrieve it the pen drive and the its data and present it before the Hon’ble High Court,” he said.

In the high court, the advocate representing Negi’s family and contended that the pen drive was recovered from an Assistant Sub-Inspector of the Bilaspur district police but the files on it were formatted, raising question over fairness of the SIT inquiry. Advocate General (AG) Anup Kumar Rattan, representing the state government, however, had submitted that the the SIT had retrieved the erased data from the device.

Further targeting the DGP, Gandhi told reporters that during the ongoing campaign launched by the Shimla police against the drug mafia, it came “to notice that a member of the personal staff of the DGP had links with Sanjay Bhuria gang” allegedly involved in the drug trade.

He also claimed that a false report was submitted “at the behest of DGP Verma” in the Vinay Aggarwal case. Aggarwal was booked for allegedly carrying out extortion in industrial areas of Himachal Pradesh.

Gandhi alleged that the “involvement of DGP’s personal staff have also been found in leaking of a confidential document report from the CID following which an FIR was registered in the case, and I have no hesitation in saying that pressure was built to obstruct the investigation on several occasions”.

Alleging that a conspiracy was being hatched against him by the DGP office for a long time, he said that efforts were made to project a simple gas leak blast at an eatery in Shimla as a terrorist activity with the claim that RDX was found. However, the final report said that there was no RDX and it was a gas leak blast, he said.

Two persons were killed, while over 10 sustained injuries in the blast that occurred in the eatery located in Middle Bazaar adjacent to the fire brigade office in the heart of Shimla city on the evening of July 18, 2023.

“Pressure was built on me in the Ramakrishna Mission case not to question Awami Tanmahimanand. The chief secretary called me to his office and told me not to investigate the case the way it was being investigated,” Gandhi alleged.

Seven people were injured in a clash between two groups in Shimla on November 17, 2024, and four FIRs were registered against over 25 people of both groups for assault against a public servant.

Referring to the video circulating about court’s proceeding held on Wednesday, the IPS officer said, “I have filed a petition in the court against BJP MLA from Dharamshala Sudhir Sharma for selectively live streaming the High Court proceedings, which is contempt of court and violation of copyright and information act”. He alleged that Sharma had emerged as a mastermind in the alleged “horse trading” of an MLA. He “has maliciously portrayed me in a bad light and tarnished my image”, the SP alleged.

Gandhi said that he has an unblemished record of honesty and dedication. “I have always upheld honesty. I’d rather resign than tolerate humiliation,” he said.