E-Paper
Second FIR registered against Himachal DIG Gandhi
Gandhi, a 2012-batch IPS officer, was serving as superintendent of police, Shimla, from 2023 to February 7, 2026 and was promoted to DIG in January this year
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One more case has been registered on Friday against former superintendent of police (SP), Shimla and present deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi, over the alleged misuse of government funds intended for the repair of police personnel residences.
This is the second FIR registered against Gandhi who was booked on charges of cheating, financial irregularities and misappropriation of government funds, following a complaint by a police constable who claimed that he was denied reimbursement of ₹1.8 lakh spent on official arrangements.
Gandhi, a 2012-batch IPS officer, was serving as superintendent of police, Shimla, from 2023 to February 7, 2026. He was promoted to DIG in January this year.
Terming the registration of cases as “witchhunt” Gandhi has termed the allegations false saying “I have done no wrong and I am being pressurised to silence my voice against the wrongdoings.”
According to the statement issued by police, the second case, registered against Gandhi involves the unauthorised expenditure of ₹14 lakh on his own official residence and an audit has also revealed that funds earmarked for Rampur and Shoghi were diverted and spent elsewhere.
Following the discovery of serious financial irregularities in a report by an audit committee constituted by the Himachal Pradesh Police headquarters, an FIR was registered on October 22, at the Shimla Police Station against the then-SSP of Shimla, Sanjeev Gandhi, under Section 316(5) (criminal breach of trust) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
According to the audit report, financial irregularities were detected in the expenditure of approximately ₹1.2 crore—funds allocated between 2022-23 and 2024-25 for the repair and maintenance of police buildings and official residences for police personnel. Of this amount, ₹14,07,392 was shown as having been spent on the then-SSP Sanjeev Gandhi’s own official residence, ‘Southwood’.
However, neither the government nor the police headquarters sanctioned any specific budget for the repair of this particular residence. Furthermore, the work in question was not part of the original proposals, and there is no record of prior permission or necessary approvals from the competent authority.
A sum of ₹2.5 lakh, earmarked for the repair of a guard post at the Shoghi police barrier, was withdrawn—purportedly on the grounds that the work had been completed in February 2023—and subsequently shown as expenditure incurred on the then-SSP’s residence. The audit found no evidence that any repair work had actually been carried out in Shoghi.
The audit also pointed out that for the year 2025-26, out of 50 works proposed under a budget of ₹28.6 lakh, records indicate that 22 were executed, of these, 13 were outside the scope of the originally approved proposals. The audit committee has raised objections regarding the expenditure of funds on works that deviated from the approved proposals.
The police department said that it was particularly concerning that while funds were required for essential repairs to the residences and workplaces of police personnel were instead spent on the official residence of the then-SSP.
