M A I N   N E W S

Hotelier, mother hacked to death
Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 15
The owner of Hotel Oaksland, Sandeep Sood, and his mother were hacked to death in the Lakkar bazar area by their employees today.

They were attacked repeatedly with sickle and knife by the two accused. Their bodies were found in a pool of blood. There were over 20 wounds on the body of Sandeep, which indicated a struggle before the death.

The police nabbed the two accused Akash (alias Shyamal Rao), manager of the hotel and cook Deep Ram from Do Sadaka in Sirmour district.

The Ford Ikon car (CH-03N-3235) of the deceased in which they escaped after committing the crime was intercepted by the Nahan police about 70 Km from here.

According to Mr Pradeep Kumar, SP, the manager and the cook were annoyed with the deceased as he had refused give them any money or gift to celebrate Divali. They had an altercation with Sandeep, which led to his murder.

The matter was reported to the police by Satish, servant of the deceased, who was a witness to the crime. The accused locked him in the bathroom and escaped in the car. He came out of the bathroom after breaking open the window and contacted his brother Gulab Singh who informed the police.

Satish told the police that Sandeep was killed after a scuffle and then the two assailant went to his mother’s bedroom and hacked her to death. They also took away all her jewellery and other valuables.

Investigations have revealed that Akash hailed from Andhra Pradesh and his real name was Shyamal Rao. He was appointed manager of the hotel by Sandeep Sood only 20 days ago. The other accused Deep Ram was a resident of Chewadi village in Sunni and he was also engaged as cook a few days ago.

The two told the Nahan police that the sickle and knife used in the crime were left by some tourist in the hotel. Prima facie the motive of the crime seemed to be theft.

Harsh Baljees, a well-known hotelier, was shot near the Army Training Command in the heart of the town, while he was returning home about four years ago. Earlier, Chhabil Das, a former Advocate General, was hacked to death alongwith his wife and another family member. While no headway was made in the Baljee murder case, which is now being investigated by the CBI, the accused in triple murder escaped to Nepal.