Postmortem report of Vimal Negi raises several questions: Himachal BJP chief Bindal

Shimla, Jun 13 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh BJP president Rajeev Bindal on Friday said the postmortem report of HPPCL chief engineer Vimal Negi, whose body was found in Bilaspur district on March 18 under mysterious circumstances, has raised several questions.

The chief engineer of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation (HPPCL) had gone missing on March 10 and his body was found on March 18 in Shahtalai area in Gobind Sagar in Bilapsur district and the postmortem was held on March 19.

In a statement issued here, Bindal alleged that according to the postmortem report of Negi that went viral on Thursday, no water was found in chest and stomach of the deceased and the people of Himachal Pradesh especially Kinnaur from where Negi hails and his family wants to know the truth that whether he died due to drowning or not.

According to the final post mortem report of the AIIMS Bilapsur, Negi had died due to asphysia on account of drowning and no internal or external injury or fracture was found on the body.

Negi had died five days prior to the postmortem examination as per the report. All four chambers of the heart were empty and the stomach contained about 100 ml of semi digested food.

As per the report of the regional forensic laboratory, Mandi, diatoms were detected from the body and were comparable to water samples taken from the spot.

The diatom test can determine the mode of death and also the site where the drowning had taken place. No poison, ethyl alcohol, narcotic drugs or psychotropic drug was detected in the body samples as per the forensic report, the report said.

The relatives of the deceased had sat on a dharna outside the HPPCL office in Shimla with the body on March 19 demanding action against senior officials who harassed Negi following which a case of abetment to suicide and joint criminal liability under BNS was registered.

Kiran, the wife of the deceased, had alleged that her husband was tortured by the superior officers for the past six months and seniors also misbehaved with him.

Negi was intentionally forced to work late at night even during illness, she said.

Vimal Negi Jan Jaatiya Nyaya Manch, a forum of tribal people of Kinnaur, had also questioned the government’s handling of the case.

The case was transferred to the CBI by the Himachal Pradesh High Court. PTI BPL AS AS