Shimla, May 21(UNI) In a development that has sent shockwaves across Himachal Pradesh’s administrative and police corridors, the High Court on Friday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the mysterious death of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited’s Chief Engineer and General Manager Vimal Negi.

The court delivered its order after accepting the writ petition filed by Negi’s wife, Kiran Negi, highlighting a possible cover-up by the state police.

A single bench of Justice Ajay Mohan Goel, while delivering the verdict in open court, expressed deep concern over the manner in which the investigation was handled by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Shimla SP Sanjeev Gandhi.

The court noted that the status report filed by the police indicated serious lapses and that the doubts raised by the deceased’s family had substantial merit warranting a CBI investigation.

The court further ordered that no officer from the state cadre be associated with the CBI probe to ensure an impartial investigation.

The verdict came following nearly three hours of heated arguments on May 21 between advocate general Anoop Rattan and former advocate general RK Bawa, who represented the deceased's family.

What emerged in court was damning: the Director General of Police (DGP) Atul Verma, due to retire by the end of this month, submitted a detailed report that pointed to an alleged systematic attempt to derail the investigation and shield powerful figures.

According to Verma's report, SP Shimla actively obstructed the investigation. He instructed SIT officers not to share any records with the DGP and even prevented the Director of the Forensic Department from forwarding forensic reports.

In a particularly disturbing revelation, the report stated that a pen drive recovered from Negi’s body on March 18 by ASI Pankaj was found to have been formatted three days later. Forensic recovery later revealed the pen drive contained sensitive information on two HPPCL projects — Kadcham and Pekhubela — possibly indicating financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 12.70 crore.

Chats recovered from the phones of the officers involved in retrieving the body allegedly show a conversation on March 20 discussing the replacement of the pen drive. The DGP also flagged that the call data records (CDRs) of the officers concerned were never submitted, despite repeated instructions.

Additionally, Inspector Manoj, who seized a fisherman’s phone containing footage of ASI Pankaj discussing the pen drive, went on sudden leave when media reports about the pen drive surfaced.

These revelations have drawn comparisons with the infamous 2017 Gudiya rape and murder case, which similarly involved alleged manipulation of the investigation by senior police officers. In that case, the CBI exposed a custodial death and filed charges against nine police officers, including the then IG.

The conviction of those officers by the CBI Special Court in Chandigarh remains one of the darkest chapters in Himachal Pradesh’s policing history. The Negi case now appears to be following a similar trajectory, where the system stands accused of shielding its own.

The DGP’s report further questioned why Vimal Negi’s diaries were not handed over to him despite formal requests and why crucial digital evidence—such as the pen drive, laptops, and mobile phones of those suspected of involvement — were seized in a staggered manner, with delays that could have allowed tampering.

The report also underlined that no suicide note was recovered and no evidence substantiated that Negi had taken his own life.

Adding fuel to the fire, Verma asked why IAS officer Omkar Chand Sharma’s inquiry report, which Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had promised to make public in the Assembly within 15 days, remains sealed even after repeated requests by the victim’s family.

The court’s decision to hand the investigation over to the CBI is a significant blow to the credibility of the state police apparatus. It also raises uncomfortable questions for the state government: who was SP Shimla allegedly protecting, and what did the formatted pen drive contain that warranted such a cover-up?

As the CBI begins its inquiry, attention now turns to potential involvement of senior bureaucrats and technocrats.

The Negi family and employees of HPPCL had long maintained that the original SIT probe was an attempt to portray an honest officer’s death as a suicide to suppress evidence of corruption.

UNI ML PRS