‘Was simple gas leak explosion, not terror act’: SP claims false implication in Shimla eatery blast

Superintendent of Police of Shimla Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi on Monday alleged that senior officials in the police headquarters manipulated central agencies to falsely implicate him in a 2023 eatery blast case by claiming that RDX samples were found from the spot.

Alleging a "conspiracy" by the office of the director general of police (DGP), Gandhi told PTI that efforts were made to project "a simple" gas leak blast at an eatery in Shimla as a terror act.

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.

This is the second time Gandhi has made allegations against top officials in the state. The SP had levelled serious allegations against former DGPs Sanjay Kundu and Atul Verma, as well as Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena, in a press conference on May 24.

In it, he had publicly hit out at the then DGP Verma, saying he filed a "misleading report" on the SIT probe into the death of HPPCL employee Vimal Negi. DGP Verma later called for Gandhi's suspension in a letter to Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Onkar Sharma. A few days later, Gandhi, Verma and Sharma were sent on leave.

On Monday, SP Gandhi said the Shimla eatery case was now proved to be a gas leak by forensic experts and the state CID.

According to forensic experts, the blast occurred when 10 kg of gas leaked, Gandhi said. However, after five days (after the incident), NSG was called which inspected the spot for three days without any coordination with Shimla Police, he claimed.

Referring to the 2023 case, 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.

After that, the then DGP sent a letter to the chief secretary saying there was negligence on the part of Shimla Police, Gandhi said.

The SP claimed that a false complaint was made against him.

He said the CID has also completed its investigation into the incident and found that the blast was due to a gas leak. There was no RDX and no use of IED, he added.