Delhi resident kills wife’s friend in Manali hotel, then shoots self dead

HT Correspondent

MOHALI: A 32-year-old Delhi resident allegedly shot dead his wife’s male friend and also shot and injured her before turning the gun on himself at a hotel in Shuru village on the outskirts of Manali town in Himachal Pradesh on Friday, said police.

The 32-year-old man hailed from Sector 7, Rohini, in northwest Delhi, and ran a camping business at Ghiyagi village of Banjar district in Kullu. Police identified the victim as a 31-year-old resident from Gopal Nagar in Najafgarh, Delhi. Kullu superintendent of police Gurdev Chand Sharma said they got a call about the firing at Hotel Himalayan Oak around 6am on Friday, and a team was sent to the spot. Room number 102, where the firing took place, was locked from inside. Police entered the room through the rear balcony and found the bodies of two men, one of which was naked.

The woman was injured, the police said. Police recovered three bullet casings from the spot.

According to the initial probe, the room was taken on lease by the suspect’s wife (30), and her sister (24), six months ago. They had invited their friend, the victim, for dinner on Thursday night, and he stayed back at the hotel, police said. “In the footage from the CCTV cameras installed on the property, the suspect can be seen entering the hotel around 4am with a pistol in hand,” according to Sharma.

“He is seen checking rooms one by one and later entering Room number 102,” said SP Sharma, adding that the suspect allegedly found his wife with the other man and shot them, he said. The woman, who suffered a bullet wound to the arm, is undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital in Manali. In her statement to police, she said her husband came to the hotel early in the morning and assaulted her before shooting the victim dead and turning the gun on himself.

Meanwhile in Delhi’s Gopal Nagar in Najafgarh, from where the deceased hailed, neighbours said his mother is yet to be informed of her son’s death. “He lived in Manali with his wife and two-year-old child. His father and relatives have gone to Manali... They told his mother that he was injured in an accident and is undergoing treatment. How can any of us give her the most shocking news of her life?” said a resident, requesting anonymity.

THE WOMAN, WHO WAS HIT BY A BULLET, IS BEING TREATED AT THE CIVIL HOSPITAL IN MANALI: POLICE