Son behind bars, mother picks up pieces of her life from debris

KASAULI: Narayani Devi, whose son is accused of killing a woman officer leading a demolition drive against illegal construction, began her day early on Friday, digging deep into the rubble of the guesthouse named after her to try and salvage what she could.

A day after her son Vijay Singh was arrested on charges of killing assistant town planner Shail Bala Sharma, the owner of the Narayani Guest House, a part of which is being demolished, was stoic, her face giving away little as officials and police kept hawk-eyed vigil on the site that has become the cynosure of national attention.

The court ordered demolition work of two of the four floors of the guesthouse, on the busy Dharampur-kasauli road, is being carried out by different civil agencies of the Himachal Pradesh government under the careful watch of the Himachal Pradesh police, including commandos.

The slender elderly woman, dressed in a salwar kameez and wearing slippers, rifled through the debris of plywood, brick and mortar, picking up pieces of her life as it were, stopping occasionally to tell those engaged in bringing down the floors to be careful.

Narayani Devi had earlier said her son had lost his mental balance as he couldn’t see their guesthouse being demolished.

“He had spent a lot of money on the guest house. He even borrowed money to expand it. He was spending money on lawyers’ fees after the case was going on. He was mentally upset for past 2-3 months and was on medication for this,” Narayani said.

Vijay Singh was arrested in Mathura on Thursday in a joint operation by the police in Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.

He allegedly fired and killed Sharma, who was leading a demolition drive against illegal construction and had reached the Narayani Guest House in Kasauli, on Tuesday.

Most of those in the neighbourhood where the shooting incident took place described Thakur, a government employee, as a man who kept a low-profile and helped his mother run the guest house.

“We were shocked when we heard that Vijay Singh had killed a lady officer. He is an educated person who was also known for his good writing skills,” said a local, who runs a juice shop.

He would take a bus to Shimla from Dharampur to reach his office and was polite and courteous with everyone, he added.

He had spent a lot of money on guesthouse and even borrowed money for its expansion. NARAYANI DEVI, accused’s mother