HP CM lied that HPPCL chief engineer's kin didn't want CBI probe into his death: Jairam Thakur

Shimla: BJP leader Jairam Thakur has accused Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of lying that the family of HPPCL chief engineer Vimal Negi was satisfied with the SIT investigation into his death and did not ask for a CBI probe.

Talking to reporters at Reckong Peo after Tiranga Yatra on Saturday, the leader of opposition in Himachal Pradesh Assembly asked if Negi's family was satisfied with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe, then why did his wife move the high court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry.

Negi went missing on March 10 and his body was found in Bilaspur on March 18. His family members sat on a dharna outside the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL) office here with his body the next day, demanding a CBI inquiry into the case.

"Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu repeatedly lied that the family of deceased HPPCL chief engineer Vimal Negi was satisfied with the SIT probe and did not ask for a CBI inquiry," Thakur told reporters.

The chief minister also said this in the state assembly, he said.

He further asked why did Negi's wife knock on the high court's door if she did not want a CBI probe.

Thakur claimed that after the Himachal Pradesh High Court ordered the transfer of the probe into the case to the CBI on Friday, the government is reportedly mulling filing an appeal against the order.

Negi's wife has alleged that he was tortured by his superior officials for six months and they also misbehaved with him. She also alleged that her husband was forced to work till late at night even when he was ill.

In a statement issued here, Himachal Pradesh BJP chief Rajiv Bindal blamed CM Sukhu and his ministers for the "deteriorating" law and order in the state.

The way efforts were made to suppress facts in the Vimal Negi death case has been exposed in the HC order.