Wife of deceased HPPCL GM approaches HC for CBI probe

Shimla: The wife of Vimal Negi, HPPCL GM whose death has snowballed into a political storm, filed a petition in the Himachal Pradesh high court on Monday to seek a CBI probe into the mysterious death of her husband last month.
She has been alleging the involvement of Negi's seniors at Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) in the death.
Negi had been missing since March 10, and his body was found from Govind Sagar Lake in Bilaspur on March 18. His family claimed he was under immense pressure from seniors, including then director (electrical) Desh Raj, then managing director Harikesh Meena, and then director (personnel and finance) Shivam Pratap Singh. Although Raj was placed under suspension, Meena and Shivan Pratap were transferred to other departments.
The deceased general manager's wife, Kiran Negi, has expressed her dissatisfaction with the ongoing probe by the special investigation team (SIT) constituted by the state govt. The state govt also constituted a committee headed by additional chief secretary Onkar Chand Sharma on March 19 to probe this case and submit a report within 15 days, but the report has not been made public yet by the state govt. Negi's family members have alleged that the state govt is trying to protect the corporation's officers. Therefore, the petitioner wife has urged the high court to order an impartial probe by the CBI so that the mystery surrounding her husband's death could be cleared and the overall functioning of the corporation could be investigated.
In this case, the then officers in HPPCL – Raj and Meena – secured anticipatory bail from the Supreme Court and the high court, respectively. Both these officers have joined the investigation. The petition is expected to come up for hearing later this week.