Himachal: 20-year-old stabbed to death at Manali winter carnival, 1 arrested
The victim and the accused had a dispute over some issue following which the attack took place; leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur flays state government over law and order situation
A 20-year-old man was stabbed to death with a broken glass during the third cultural night in the ongoing Manali winter carnival on Wednesday night. A suspect has been arrested, the police said. The deceased has been identified as Daksh (20), a resident of Vashisht in Manali of Kullu district. The district administration suspended the cultural programmes which were to be held on Thursday in wake of the murder.
Accused Tushar Sharma, a resident of Siyal in Manali, was arrested in the wee hours of Thursday. Kullu SP Karthikeyan Gokulachandran said the incident occurred backstage at Manu Rangshala at around 8 pm on Wednesday.
According to the SP, the preliminary investigation revealed that two persons had a fight over some issue following which the accused stabbed the victim on his neck with a piece of broken glass. The accused fled initially but was caught a few hours later. “We are investigating the reason behind the attack. The police are investigating if more people are involved,” he said.
After the attack, cops deployed at the winter carnival rushed Daksh to the civil hospital, but he was declared dead. The postmortem examination has been conducted and a report is awaited. An FIR has been registered by the Manali police station.
The administration suspended the cultural programme scheduled to held on the Day 5 of the Manali winter carnival. “Owing to an unfortunate event, the cultural evening was suspended for Thursday. The cultural events will be held on Friday and the issue of review of security is under consideration,” said Kullu deputy commissioner Torul S Raveesh.
The BJP flayed the state government over law and order. Leader of opposition in state assembly Jai Ram Thakur said it was a failure of the law and order. BJP’s district president Amit Sood, accompanied by Banjar MLA Surender Shourie and others, submitted a memorandum to the governor through the Kullu deputy commissioner regarding the law and order situation.
Meanwhile, Naresh Chauhan, principal adviser (media) to the chief minister, said “It is unfortunate that under political compulsions BJP leaders are tarnishing the state’s image by connecting a dispute between two with law and order. Such irresponsible statements adversely affect tourism industry.”
He added that cops had acted swiftly and arrested accused. “Himachal is a peaceful state,” he added.
