Hotelier killed in Himachal Pradesh during brawl with cops, 2 constables booked amid public outrage | Chandigarh News

Meanwhile, family members of the victim and local hoteliers staged a protest against the district police administration, demanding stricter action against the constables on Wednesday. The protesters blocked the Pathankot-Chamba national highway for around four hours. Protesters alleged that the police constables were drunk when they entered the hotel and attacked the office in-charge and the general manager. The protest was withdrawn only after Superintendent of Police (Chamba) Abhishek Yadav suspended the two police constables and booked them.

“Three police constables went to the hotel uninvited on New Year’s Eve; two of them allegedly got into a scuffle with the front office incharge Sachin Kumar and attacked general manager Rajinder Malhotra, who tried to intervene. Preliminary investigation suggests police constable Anoop Kumar, office incharge Sachin Kumar and general manager Rajinder Malhotra fell from a significant height to the ground floor,” a police officer told The Indian Express.

“Rajinder Malhotra sustained severe head injuries. He was declared dead in a local government hospital. Constable Anoop Kumar and hotel office incharge Sachin Kumar suffered multiple fractures. The two were admitted to a local hospital. Amit Kumar was arrested for murder. Accused constable Anoop Kumar will be arrested after being discharged from the hospital. The third police constable was not at the crime scene when the incident occurred. Instead, he was sitting in his car in the parking lot,” the police officer added.

SP Yadav told the media, “Accused constables Amit Kumar and Anoop Kumar were posted in Chamba. They were sent to Dalhousie on duty in view of the New Year celebrations. They were returning from their duty when they went to the hotel. We registered a case against them and suspended the two. A departmental probe was also initiated against them. Indeed, there were three constables in the hotel when the murder took place, and the role of the third policeman is under investigation.”

“As protesters and kin of the victim alleged that the constables were drunk, we collected the blood and urine samples of the accused police personnel. Accused Amit Kumar will be produced in a local court on Thursday,” DSP Thakur said.

Meanwhile, a police source said, “CCTV camera footage of the hotel was seized. The cameras were not equipped with night vision technology. The footage is dim and not clear, although it showed that a scuffle had taken place in the hotel.”

Malhotra was a native of the Khajjiar area who settled in the Dalhousie Cantt area. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and a son. His body was handed over to his family after a postmortem examination.

The police filed a case under sections 101 (murder) and 109 (attempt to murder) of the Bhartiya Nayaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, at the Dalhousie police station.