Ex-Union minister's husband, scion of Kangra rulers Aditya Dev Chander Katoch, dies

Dharamsala, December 30

Aditya Dev Chander Katoch, husband of former Union minister Chanderesh Kumari, passed away here today. He was 78 years old.

Katoch was a member of the former royal family of Kangra. He was 488th in the lineage of Kotoch rulers. He was cremated at the Lambagaon crematorium. His son Aishwaryai Dev Katoch lit the pyre.

Katoch was born on December 25, 1943. His father Druv Dev Chand Kaotch was the last ruler of Lambagaon state, the centre of Kangra rulers. He was educated at the Doon School, Dehradun. He used to stay in Clouds Villa, the house of the royal family in Dharamsala. A portion of his ancestral house was converted into a hotel.

Katoch had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections on the Congress ticket in 1990. He was married into the royal family of Jodhpur; his wife Chandresh Kumari is the sister of Gajj Singh, the scion of the former royal family of Jodhpur. Congress leaders from the district expressed condolences on Katoch’s death. — TNS