CM Sukhu’s ‘blue-eyed boy’ or Shimla’s ‘grey’ knight? The SP at heart of Himachal’s police wars
It’s not the first time Shimla SP Sanjeev Gandhi, heading several sensitive probes, finds himself in a controversy. But his open attack on his seniors has Himachal in a tizzy.
The Sukhu government’s appointment of Sanjeev Gandhi as Shimla SP was a surprise to many. Before he was moved to the capital, he was Commandant, Himachal Pradesh Armed Police, a low-profile posting he held for a long time under the BJP. (Express Photo)
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Himachal Pradesh has rarely seen such an open war among top rungs of the bureaucracy. And, at the heart of it, is Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Gandhi – who, as per the Opposition, is the “blue-eyed officer” of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
A Himachal Pradesh Police Service officer who was elevated to the IPS in 2017, Gandhi is the officer whom the state government has turned to for handling several sensitive probes. It is one such investigation – into the suicide of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (HPPCL) chief engineer Vimal Negi – that is behind the latest row, with Gandhi’s statements adding fuel to the fire.
Negi’s wife has accused top HPPCL officials of driving him to suicide. On May 24, a day after the Himachal Pradesh High Court ordered handover of the probe into the suicide to the CBI, instructing that the agency keep all state police officers out of the SIT, Gandhi accused DGP Atul Verma of submitting a “misleading affidavit” in the court. He also petitioned that the case not be moved to the agency.
Further, Gandhi accused Verma’s office of having “links with drug syndicates” and “leaking” the probe report into the ‘Samosa controversy’, in which some snacks reportedly meant for CM Sukhu were “waylaid”. He also accused another DGP (now former) of “planting” an RDX to make a simple gas leak blast case of July 2023 look like a terrorist attack.
Separately, Gandhi questioned the functioning of the office of the Chief Secretary, without mentioning his name.
As the BJP asked whether the astonishing press conference could have been held by an SP without the go-ahead of the CM, Sukhu finally cracked down. On May 27, in an unprecedented move, he sent all three – DGP Verma, SP Gandhi and Chief Secretary Onkar Sharma – on leave. Days later, Verma retired, without a formal farewell.
A police officer, requesting anonymity, pointed out it was not the first time Gandhi found himself in a controversy, while giving the 55-year-old officer the benefit of the doubt. “An SP of a capital city, which also happens to be a popular tourist destination, is expected to have the blessings of the ruling party, irrespective of the officer’s own capabilities, vision and hard work,” the officer pointed out.
A surprise move
At the same time, the officer admitted that the Sukhu government’s posting of Gandhi as Shimla SP – among the reshuffles carried out by the Congress on assuming power from the BJP in Himachal in December 2022 – was a surprise. “He was Commandant, Himachal Pradesh Armed Police, at the time, a low-profile posting he had held for a long time under the BJP.”
Before that, in 2017, when he was the Kangra SP, Gandhi was transferred thrice within 15 days. The government at the time, incidentally, was also of the Congress, led by Virbhadra Singh, and Gandhi’s colleagues say he paid a price for his “crackdown” on mining and drug syndicates.
In February 2024, following cross-voting during the Rajya Sabha elections in Himachal, which helped a Congress turncoat win on the BJP ticket, Gandhi was appointed by the Sukhu government to investigate the alleged cash payout behind it.
Gandhi continues to head the SIT probe in the case, with the role of a BJP MLA and a former bureaucrat and father of a Congress MLA, under probe. The BJP has accused Gandhi of harassing its leaders during the investigation.
In August 2024, former BJP CM Jai Ram Thakur, the current Leader of the Opposition, accused Gandhi of “spying” on him using drones during the Assembly session. “Thakur alleged that the drones were operated from a house adjacent to SP Gandhi’s. The allegations were dismissed as baseless, with CM Sukhu telling the House that the drones were deployed for GIS mapping by Shimla Jal Prabandhan Nigam Ltd,” the police officer said.
As per sources, “differences” between Thakur and Gandhi personally go back years, to when he was posted as SP, Vigilance, at Mandi, and Thakur was a BJP MLA from the Seraj Assembly seat in Mandi district.
In fact, Gandhi has some fans in the BJP camp, such as veteran Shanta Kumar, a former CM, who has applauded his “dedicated work against the drug trade in the state”.
Police sources cite several instances of Gandhi going against his superiors, like in the present case involving Negi’s suicide, in highlighting discrepancies during police recruitments in 2021-22, and a Palampur case involving a businessman in 2023, where he submitted adverse findings against a former DGP.
In a conversation with The Indian Express following the row over the HPPCL chief engineer’s suicide, Gandhi had said: “We are all part of a system. I have cordial relations with many seniors as well as politicians across party lines. But it pains me when I see how some of my superiors react when I don’t toe the line on something I find illegal and unethical.”
BJP’s concerns, Congress’s response
A native of Solan district, Gandhi belongs to a family of lawyers, with his father a former professor of law at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, which trains IAS officers. Gandhi himself practised law at the Himachal Pradesh High Court before joining the state police service in 1999. His wife Nisha Gandhi is an advocate.
BJP Sri Nainadevi MLA and party spokesperson Randhir Sharma said their allegations regarding Gandhi are justified. “If a police officer is challenging the High Court’s decision – even in his personal capacity – after the CM has already said his government will not challenge it, what impression does it give? Either the police officer is superior to the state government, or the government is okay with the move of the police officer,” Sharma said.
The BJP leader added that it was not a question of doubting Gandhi’s capabilities. “Most of the time, it is competent police officers who are misused by state governments, which is evident in this case.”
A senior Congress leader, requesting anonymity, said that the only reason Gandhi got the prestigious Shimla SP’s post was “his track record, especially his work against drugs”. “He is a competent officer with not a single allegation against him.”
However, the Congress leader added, Gandhi has dug himself into a corner. “He harmed himself by attacking his seniors at a press meeting because he was hurt,” the leader said, adding that this meant his supporters too were now reluctant to come out openly in his favour.
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