MANALI: A 32-year-old man from Delhi walked in on his wife and her paramour at Shuru village, 4km from here, in the wee hours of Friday, following which he shot dead the other man with the country-made pistol he was carrying and then proceeded to kill himself.
Rishabh Saxena of Delhi was operating a campsite in Ghiagi village in Banjar sub-division of Kullu. His wife, Ravleen Kaur Chawla (30), and her younger sister were operating a hotel at Shuru on lease. Sunny Sheravat (31) of Gopal Nagar, Najafgarh, Delhi, who was also running a hotel on lease in Prini village near Shuru, was a friend of both the sisters and used to visit their hotel frequently, police said.
Police added Sunny visited both the sisters on Thursday night for dinner and stayed at the hotel. Rishabh, however, reached the hotel at 4am on Friday. He first checked the register and then rushed to the top floor where his sister-in-law was sleeping.
Police said CCTV footage showed Rishabh was holding a pistol while entering the hotel. Police said he first knocked at the room on the top floor of the hotel. When he got no response, he came down to the lower floor and started checking empty rooms. In the meanwhile, the younger sister called Rishabh's wife on the phone, saying that somebody was knocking at the door. Just when Ravleen looked out of the door to check, Rishabh entered the room and found her with Sheravat.
Rishabh and Sunny scuffled for long and Ravleen also sustained some injuries. Rishabh later shot dead Sunny in a bout of rage before committing suicide.
Kullu senior superintendent of police Gurdev Sharma said police were examining CCTV footage of the hotel. "In the footage, Rishabh is carrying a country-made pistol. He saw his wife in a compromising situation with Sunny and shot him dead after a long scuffle. He then committed suicide by shooting himself. One body was completely naked. Police have recovered some bullets from the room and outside. We have also recovered a country-made pistol and a country-made revolver from Room 102," he said.
Police received information about the incident at 6am. Police said the room was locked from the inside and bodies were seen in the room from the balcony. Police said some part of the incident had been captured in cameras installed inside and outside the hotel.
"Ravleen had sustained some injuries in the scuffle and she was taken to the hospital in Manali by her sister. According to her statement, Rishabh entered the room, killed Sunny, and then committed suicide. We have secured the crime scene. Forensic experts are collecting evidence," the SSP said.
Kullu-Manali has more than 3,500 hotels, guesthouses, homestays and campsites. Most of the hotels here are being operated by people from other states who pay good money to local owners and take the property on lease. The district also has a large number of illegal homestays being operated by people from other states.
