Official on demolition drive shot

A Town and Country Planning official was shot dead and a PWD official injured when the owner of a guest house in Kasauli opened fire at them on Tuesday.

Shailbala was killed when Narayani guest house owner Vijay Singh opened fire at the officials who had come to demolish the guest house. The injured, Gulab Singh, was taken to Dharampur hospital from where he was referred to PGI, Chandigarh.

Kasauli has a number of hotels and guest houses, and many of these have been declared illegal by the Supreme Court. The Court had ordered the demolition on April 17.

The officials complying with the apex court and the NGT orders are having a tough time in getting these properties vacated or demolished.