During a Supreme Court-ordered demolition drive in Himachal Pradesh's Kasauli, a hotel-owner fled after allegedly shooting and killing a woman assistant town and country planner
A woman assistant town and country planner was shot dead on Tuesday in Himachal Pradesh's Solan district by a guest house owner. The woman officer had gone to seal an unauthorised construction on the guest house owner's property under a directive issued earlier by the Supreme Court. The Court on Wednesday took sou motu cognizance of the firing incident in Kasauli. The case will be assigned before an appropriate Bench on Thursday.
Narayani Guest House owner Vijay Kumar allegedly fired two rounds in the air as employees began the demolition drive in the Dharampur area. Police officials told news agencies that a stray bullet hit Shailbala Sharma, the assistant town and country planner, killing her on the spot. Labourer Gulab Singh also received a gunshot injury in his abdomen.
Officials said that the accused subsequently fled from the scene and a manhunt was launched to nab him.
Here are the top developments around the killing of the woman town and country planner in Kasauli:
1) SC takes sou motu cognisance of the Kasauli incident: The Supreme Court on Wednesday on its own took cognisance of the firing incident in Kasauli where a woman government official was shot dead allegedly by a hotel owner over the demolition of an illegal structure. A Bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta termed the incident as extremely serious and noted that the government officials had gone there to comply with the court's direction to seal unauthorised constructions.
2) Kasauli incident to be placed in court tomorrow: The apex court Bench said that the matter be placed before Chief Justice Of India Dipak Misra for assigning it before an appropriate Bench tomorrow.
3) SC asks 'what was police doing': The Supreme Court also asked what the police team, which had accompanied the government officials during the sealing drive, was doing when the hotel owner allegedly shot at Shailbala.
4) SC Bench says it will stop passing orders: After the Kasauli firing incident issue was mentioned before it, the Bench observed, "We might stop passing any orders if you are going to kill people."
5) SC raps state govt: The apex court also rapped the state government for not providing adequate security to the woman official, news agencies reported.
6) Accused on the run, manhunt on: The counsel representing Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court Bench that the accused had fled from the spot after opening fire. A manhunt was launched to nab him.
7) How the incident took place: Shailbala Sharma was shot dead and a labourer injured on Tuesday in Himachal Pradesh's Solan district allegedly by Narayani Guest House owner Vijay Kumar, who fired two rounds in the air as employees began the demolition drive in Dharampur area following Supreme Court orders. A stray bullet hit Sharma, killing her on the spot, police officials told news agencies. Labourer Gulab Singh received a gunshot injury in the abdomen. An official of the Public Works Department was also injured in the incident. Sanjya Negi, a sub-divisional officer of the electricity department, had a narrow escape.
The district administration officials were removing illegal structures in 13 hotels and resorts in Kasauli area when the crime was committed.
The deceased was heading the team for the demolition drive and hotel-owners allegedly attempted to intimidate the officials. An altercation ensued and Kumar fired three rounds at the officials, killing Shailbala on the spot and injuring Singh, who was undergoing treatment at PGI, Chandigarh, where his condition was stated to be critical.
8) Himachal CM says law and order will be maintained: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur mourned the official's killing, saying that the culprit would be arrested soon and acted against according to the law. "The law and order will be maintained at all costs in the state," he said.
9) SC's demolition order: The Supreme Court last month had ordered the demolition of unauthorised constructions at several hotels and resorts built in violation of sanctioned plans in Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh. Observing that the hotel-owners cannot put the life of people in danger for making money, a Bench of Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta had said: "First demolish it (unauthorised constructions)".
"You (hotel owners) admitted that there is unauthorised construction. Everything you have done is wrong. There was landslide in your premises. You are putting the lives of people in danger just for the money," said the Bench, which took note that some hotels and resorts were supposed to construct only two-storeyed buildings but built six-storeyed buildings. Ordering the authorities concerned to act on it, the Bench said, "Either you demolish it or we will ask authorities to demolish it. Choice is yours."
