Chief Engineer death case: ASI Pankaj Kumar’s bail plea rejected, sent to 10-day judicial custody

In the mysterious death case of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (HPPCL) Chief Engineer Vimal Negi, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Monday sent Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Pankaj Kumar to 10 days’ judicial custody till September 26.

Pankaj was arrested by the CBI on Sunday from his native village in Bilaspur district. He was produced before the CBI court in the state capital on Monday, where the agency sought five days’ custody. His counsel opposed the plea, after which the court, having heard both sides, granted CBI custody till September 16.

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The CBI counsel had later sought further custodial interrogation, which was opposed by the accused’s counsel, Piyush Verma. The bail petition filed on Monday on behalf of Pankaj was rejected by the court, which maintained that there were insufficient grounds to extend CBI custody.

Pankaj has been booked under Sections 315, 238 read with 108, 61(2), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. He is alleged to have concealed a pen drive during the recovery of Negi’s body on March 18. The SIT constituted to investigate the case later retrieved the pen drive, which is suspected to have had files deleted.

Pankaj is considered a key link in the ongoing probe into the suspicious death of Chief Engineer Vimal Negi.

Negi, who served as Chief Engineer, had gone missing on March 10, and his body was recovered 10 days later from Gobind Sagar Lake in Bilaspur. The deceased’s family had demanded a CBI probe.