ASI Pankaj Sharma Granted Bail in Vimal Negi Case After Six Weeks in Custody

Shimla, October 31 || Diary Times News Network

Suspended ASI Pankaj Sharma, arrested on charges of tampering with evidence in connection with the suspicious death of HPPCL Chief Engineer Vimal Negi, has been granted bail by the Himachal Pradesh High Court.

Justice Virender Singh allowed Sharma’s bail plea on Friday, granting him relief after nearly one and a half months in judicial custody. Sharma, the only person arrested by the CBI in the case, will now be released on bail. He was taken into custody on September 14 from his ancestral home in Ghumarwin, Bilaspur district.

Earlier, Sharma had moved the High Court challenging the order of the Special CBI Court, Shimla, which had rejected his bail plea and sent him to judicial custody till September 26.

The CBI accused Sharma of removing a pen drive from Vimal Negi’s pocket and deleting crucial data from his laptop, which he allegedly took into his possession. Some documents were also recovered during a search of his residence.

According to the case details, Sharma was not part of any official investigation team at the time of the incident, yet he was reportedly the first to reach the crime scene. On this basis, he was booked for tampering with evidence and destroying material proof. Following his arrest, he was first remanded to CBI custody and later sent to Kathu Jail in Shimla.

It may be recalled that Vimal Negi went missing on March 10 under mysterious circumstances. His body was found eight days later, on March 18, along the banks of the Govind Sagar Lake in Bilaspur. After the incident, Negi’s family accused senior officials of mental harassment, while his wife, Kiran Negi, demanded a CBI probe.

The High Court subsequently handed over the investigation to the CBI, which registered a case under Section 108 (abetment of suicide) and Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.