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Shimla SP claims senior cops manipulated central agencies, falsely implicated him in 2023 eatery blast
The Shimla SP alleged that attempts had been made to project a “gas leak" blast as a terror act by claiming that RDX samples had been found at the scene.
The superintendent of police in Shimla, Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi, on Monday alleged that senior officials in the police headquarters had manipulated central agencies to falsely implicate him in a 2023 eatery blast case.
Gandhi alleged that the “conspiracy” was hatched by the office of the director general of police and that attempts had been made to project a “gas leak" blast as a terror act by claiming that RDX samples had been found at the scene, reported PTI.
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Gandhi was referring to an incident which occurred at an eatery in Middle Bazaar near Mall Road in Shimla on the evening of July 18, 2023, which led to the death of two people. 10 others also sustained injuries from the blast.
Two persons were killed while over 10 sustained injuries in the blast that took place in an eatery in Middle Bazaar near Mall Road in the heart of Shimla city on the evening of July 18, 2023.
SP claims evidence shows blast was due to gas leak
SP Gandhi said the Shimla eatery case had been proven to be a gas leak by forensic experts and the state CID.
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He claimed that forensic experts had attributed the blast to a 10kg gas leak, however, five days after the incident the National Security Guard (NSG) inspected the spot for three days without any coordination with Shimla Police.
Gandhi said samples taken from the incident site were not sealed in front of witnesses. Later, the NSG filed a report that it was a "terrorist incident" with the use of improvised explosive devices (IED) and RDX, the SP claimed.
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He added that the CID had also completed its probe into the incident and found that the blast was due to a gas leak, with no use of RDX or IEDs detected.
He said that after the NSG's probe, the DGP had sent a letter to the chief secretary claiming negligence on the part of the Shimla Police and had falsely implicated Gandhi.
This marks the second time the superintendent has made allegations against top officials in the state.
Earlier, he had claimed that former DGPs Sanjay Kundu and Atul Verma, as well as chief secretary Prabodh Saxena had been involved in filing a “misleading” report in connection with a SIT probe into the death of a HPPCL employee.
DGP Verma later called for Gandhi's suspension in a letter to additional chief secretary (home) Onkar Sharma. Gandhi, Verma and Sharma were sent on leave after the allegations came to light.
