Shimla (HP), May 24 (PTI) Superintendent of Police of Shimla Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi on Saturday publicly hit out Himachal Pradesh Director General of Police Atul Verma, alleging that he filed a misleading status report questioning the SIT probe into the Vimal Negi death case due to ulterior motives and there were attempts at obstructing investigations in several cases.
In an unprecedented move, SP Gandhi, who headed the SIT probe into the mysterious death of HPPCL employee Negi, levelled a litany of allegations of misconduct against the DGP and his staff at a press conference, a day after the Himachal Pradesh High Court transferred the case to the CBI.
There was no immediate reaction from the DGP.
A chief engineer of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited, Negi had gone missing on March 10 and his body was found on March 18. His wife Kiran Negi alleged that his seniors had harassed him for the past six months and had demanded a CBI probe. The case stirred a political storm in Himchal Pradesh, with the opposition BJP alleging a cover-up.
In its Friday order, the high court had noted that the DGP has raised “grave concerns about the mode and manner in which the investigation is being carried out in his status report”.
Gandhi told reporters 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”.
“We had carried out the investigation with full honesty and integrity and the status report and affidavit presented by the DGP in the court was very irresponsible and it has happened as senior police officers posted in the police headquarters hold a grudge against me,” the SP said.
Targeting the DGP’s staff, 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 the DGP Atul 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 personal staff have also been found in leaking of a confidential document report from the CID department 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.
He alleged it was done by “manipulation” of the National Security Guard (NSG) by former DGP Sanjay Kundu and senior officers in the Police Headquarters. 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 ten had 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.
“I have filed a petition in the court against sitting BJP MLA from Dharamshala Sudhir Sharma for selectively live streaming the High Court proceedings which is contempt of proceedings and violation of copyright and information act,” Gandhi said.
He alleged that Sharma had emerged as a mastermind in the alleged “horse trading” of an MLA. He “has maliciously portrayed me in bad light and tarnished my image”, the SP alleged.
Gandhi said that he has an unblemished record of honesty and dedication and would prefer to quit rather than brook insults. PTI BPL RT RT
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.