Dy CM’s wife passes away on way to hospital

Una, February 10

Simmi Agnihotri, wife of Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, died late last night while on her way to a private hospital at Mohali near Chandigarh in an ambulance after she became unconscious at her house at Gondpur Jaichan village in the Haroli Assembly segment. She was a professor at Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), Shimla.

According to family members, Simmi was feeling unwell since Friday morning and took rest the entire day. Her daughter, Aastha Agnihotri, was also at home for the past two days. In the evening, Simmi’s condition deteriorated and Aastha called her uncle Rakesh Agnihotri, who is a doctor. Simmi was rushed to a Una hospital and from there she was referred to Max Hospital at Mohali. However, she reportedly passed away on the way to Max Hospital where she was later declared dead. Agnihotri, who was in Shimla, rushed to Una.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu reached Agnihotri’s house to console the bereaved family members. He said that he had known Simmi since his university days and besides being a professor at the university, she was also involved in social service.

Before Aastha lit the pyre, a posse of Himachal Police personnel gave a ceremonial farewell to the departed soul. A bugle was blown before gunshots were fired into the air.

Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania, Health Minister Dhani Ram Shandil, Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, Rural Development Minister Anirudh Singh, PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh, Town and Country Planning Minister Rajesh Dharmani, AYUSH Minister Yadvinder Goma, besides MLAs Rajinder Rana (Sujanpur), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), Satpal Satti (Una) and Davinder Bhutto (Kutlehar) attended the cremation. Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur and state BJP president Rajeev Bindal consoled the bereaved family at the cremation ground.