Demolition drive on in Kasauli, murder accused on the run

Even as demolition of illegal constructions in hotels and resorts in Kasauli area continued on Thursday amid tight security, a hotelier accused of fatally shooting a woman official two days ago remained on the run, officials said.

On May 1, Assistant Town Planner Shail Bala Sharma was shot dead by Narayani Guest House owner Vijay Kumar during the Supreme Court-ordered demolition drive.

"We are working aggressively to arrest the accused. A Special Investigating Team of eight police official has been constituted to arrest him," Superintendent of Police Mohit Chawla told reporters here.

Expressing anguish over the delay in the arrest of the accused, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur told reporters in New Delhi: "I am in regular touch with top police officials. As per my information, he's likely to be arrested today (Thursday) or tomorrow (Friday)."

Police officials said Vijay shot dead the official when she insisted on executing the apex court order to demolish illegal constructions at his guest house. After the crime, Vijay, a Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board employee who was on leave for three weeks, disappeared into the nearby forest.

Admitting negligence in the matter, Deputy Commissioner Vinod Kumar said: "It was our responsibility to carry out the demolitions. It was lapse on part of the district administration. We had asked the demolition teams to exercise restraint."

But the demolitions would continue, he added.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the Himachal government to file an affidavit by May 9, the next date of hearing, detailing the progress in the murder probe.

A Bench headed by Justice Madan B. Lokur said the affidavit should contain details of action taken to demolish illegal constructions and steps to prevent unauthorised constructions in future.

Taking suo motu cognisance of the official's killing, the Supreme Court a day earlier pulled up the state authorities for failure to ensure the safety of officers implementing its orders.

The apex court on April 17 ordered the demolition of illegal constructions, saying the life of people cannot be endangered for making money.

The opposition Congress blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party government for what it said was "deteriorating law and order" in the hill state.

"Even two days after the crime, the state has failed to fix responsibility on officials responsible for the lapses that led to the death of a government employee," Congress leader Mukesh Agnihotri told IANS.

--IANS

vg/tsb/vm