An Assistant Townand Country Plannerwas shot dead and an Public Works Departmentemployee injured after a Hotelowner allegedly opened fire at them today while they were carrying out a Supreme Courtmandated drive to demolish illegal structures in 13 hotels in Solandistrict.
Assistant Townand Country PlannerShailbala was killed on the spot and Gulab Singh severely injured when the owner of Narayani guest house, Vijay Kumar, opened fire on the demolition team, police said.
The Supreme Courthad on April 17 directed the State Governmentto demolish unauthorised structures in 13 hotels in Kasauli and Dharampur areas of Solan, and four teams were constituted for this purpose.
The deceased was heading one team and Hotelowners allegedly attempted to intimidate it to stop the demolition drive, officials said.
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, they said.
The accused fled from the scene soon after and a manhunt was launched to nab him, officials said.
Superintendant of Police (Solan) Mohit Chawlasaid a case was registered against the accused and checking at all interstate barriers was intensified.
Meanwhile, the demolitions teams pulled down the unauthorised constructions and in some cases, Hotelowners took the initiative and removed illegal structures on their own.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)