The Himachal Pradesh government on Thursday ordered the suspension of five officials, including a former superintendent of police, for failing to ensure security during a court-ordered demolition drive in Kasauli earlier this month. A hotel owner had shot and killed an assistant town planner on duty during the drive on May 1.
Nine other officials will face disciplinary proceedings, The Indian Express reported. A report by an inquiry panel set up to look into the incident had indicted the 14 officials for grave security lapses. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur accepted the report on Thursday, and ordered the action to be taken.
The suspended officials include former Solan Superintendent of Police Mohit Chawla, a naib tehsildar, a deputy superintendent of police and two police station house officers. Chawla was transferred after the incident.
On May 1, Shail Bala Sharma, an assistant town and country planner, was shot dead during a Supreme Court-mandated anti-encroachment drive. An employee of the public works department Gulab Singh was injured in the firing, and later succumbed to his injuries. The accused hotelier, Vijay Singh Thakur, was arrested from Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh.
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