A day after hotelier Vijay Singh, who had allegedly shot dead Assistant Town Planner Shail Bala Sharma during a demolition drive in Kasauli on May 1, was arrested from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, the court of ACJM, Kasauli, sent him to five-day police remand.

After he was produced before the ACJM court, Vijay Singh was taken to Dharampur police station for interrogation.

Vijay Singh allegedly shot Sahil Bala dead when she had come to demolish illegal portion of his hotel, Narayani Guest House, to implement the order of the Supreme Court. After heated exchange of words, Vijay, in a fit of rage, allegedly shot Shail Bala dead and disappeared in the nearby forest.

Police sources said the weapon used by him in the crime was, however, not recovered from him.

Solan police had formed several teams which were conducting raids in neighbouring states of Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh to nab the culprit.

Earlier, there were apprehensions that the accused might have fled to Punjab and searches were being conducted to trace the accused.

A cash reward of Rs 1 lakh was also announced by the Himachal Pradesh Police for any information leading to his arrest and the state government had also ordered an inquiry into the incident which would be conducted by Divisional Commissioner, Shimla.

The demolition drive against illegal constructions by 13 hotels and resorts continued on the third day on Thursday amid tight security as per the orders of Supreme Court, Solan Superintendent of Police Mohit Chawla. “Our police teams were on his trail since the last two days. We arrested Singh from Mathura today evening and he is being brought to Solan,” Chawla said.

The official, Shail Bala was cremated at her native Bari village under Baldwara tehsil in Mandi district with full state honours on Wednesday evening. She was also conferred with the Himachal Gaurav Purskar by the state government.

Two bullets hit Shail Bala, one in the jaw and another in the chest, killing her on the spot. Another official, Gulab Singh, who is employed with Public Works Department, got injured in the incident.

The duo was rushed to Dharampur’s government hospital where Shail Bala was declared brought dead while Gulab Singh was referred to PGI, Chandigarh, where he is undergoing treatment. His condition is stated to be serious but stable.