Manali shooter tried to kill self in

March, took 2 guns to hotel room

GREATER NOIDA/MOHALI: Days after a 32-year-old Delhi resident shot his wife and her male friend, killing the friend and injuring her, before turning the gun on himself at a hotel near Manali town in Himachal Pradesh, the police said the man arrived at the hill town on Thursday and carried two countrymade pistols with him.

The police said that around 4am on Friday, he entered room 102 of Hotel Himalayan Oak and allegedly found his wife there with her friend. He then tried firing the first pistol, but it had a snag. He then used the second one to first shoot and injure his wife, kill her friend and then shoot himself, police probing the matter said.

Police said the 32-year-old man was a chartered accountant, with an office in Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh. He also ran a camping company in Manali. His 30-year-old wife and her younger sister had taken a hotel near Manali on lease six months ago and the couple also ran a tours and travel company, with its office in Delhi’s Pitampura.

Although the couple had a house in south Delhi, they shifted to a residential complex in Greater Noida about two years ago, police said. And as news of the hill town murder-suicide spread, neighbours at the Greater Noida society recalled that the couple had a troubled marriage.

They said the last time they saw the couple was in March, when the husband had allegedly attempted suicide and wife called the police. A Greater Noida police officer, who reached their house that day, said, “The husband had shut himself in the bedroom and was threatening to end his life. But we coaxed him to come out. We learnt that the couple had quarrelled over some financial undertaking — he had lent her money for her business and accused her of not telling him the truth. We counselled them and they settled their differences.”

When HT visited the couple’s rented flat on Saturday, it was locked. The building security guards said the house has remained locked for the past two months. The landlord said he has been trying to reach them for the past few days as they were yet to pay the monthly rent of ₹8,500.

“The couple always paid the rent on time, but not this month. I waited for about 20 days before texting them, but got no response. They renewed the lease for one more year this February,” the flat owner said, asking not to be named.

The couple’s family members declined to speak when contacted over phone.

Police said the 30-year-old woman, along with her younger sister, had taken the hotel on lease six months ago. On Thursday night, they invited the male friend, a resident of Najafgarh in

Delhi, for dinner. He also ran a hotel in Prini village near Manali, police said.

“In the footage from CCTV cameras installed on the premises, the chartered accountant can be seen entering the hotel around 4am Friday with a pistol in hand,” said Gurdev Chand Sharma, Kullu superintendent of police (SP), said. “He is seen checking the rooms one by one before entering room no. 102,” he said.

“The room was locked from inside. On being alerted about the gunshots, police entered through the rear balcony and found the bodies of the two men. The woman was lying injured,” the SP said.

The officer added that while analysing the couple’s phone records, it appeared the man had not come to Manali in the past six months but was in regular touch with his wife. Police are recording the statements of the hotel staff, who said the couple had a heated exchange as soon as the man entered the room. Police said the man suspected his wife of having an affair with the male friend. Both bodies have been sent for autopsy.

THE MAN AND HIS WIFE MOVED TO A SOCIETY IN GREATER NOIDA, RESIDENTS OF WHICH SAID THEY HAD A STRAINED MARRIAGE