Woman officer shot dead in Kasauli: Murder weapon recovered

Singh had on Tuesday allegedly fired and killed Assistant Town Planner Shail Bala Sharma.

A day after the man accused of killing a woman officer leading a demolition drive in Kasauli was arrested from Mathura, the murder weapon was also recovered.

Police have recovered the revolver allegedly used by Vijay Singh to shoot Assistant Town and Country Planning officer Shail Bala Sharma in Kasauli during demolition drive on May 1, reported news agency ANI.

Vijay Singh was arrested from Mathura on Thursday (May 3). In a bid to change his appearance, Vijay Singh shaved his moustache and trimmed his hair but he was caught sitting near a temple, the police had said.

"The accused was arrested from Mathura in a joint operation by Himachal and Delhi Police. He would be brought to Himachal after obtaining transit remand. The police would interrogate him and recover the weapon used for shooting the officer," DGP Sita Ram Mardi said in Shimla.

Singh had on Tuesday allegedly fired and killed Assistant Town Planner Shail Bala Sharma, who while leading a Supreme Court mandated demolition drive against illegal constructions had reached his family's Narayani Guest House. Himachal Pradesh authorities received much flak and were even pulled up by the apex court over the incident.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that the "unfortunate death" of a woman government official, allegedly shot dead by a hotel owner in Kasauli during a demolition drive was the result of "non-implementation of the law".

The apex court had on April 17 directed the state government to demolish unauthorised structures in several hotels and guest houses in Kasauli and Dharampur areas of Solan and four teams were constituted by the authorities to carry out the work.