An employee of the Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department, who was shot at during a demolition drive against illegal constructions in Kasauli, succumbed to his injuries at the PGIMER  Chandigarh, officials said today.

A PGIMER official said Gulab Singh, 46, died late last night.

Gulab Singh was critically injured after allegedly being shot at by Vijay Singh Thakur, the son of a guest house owner during the court-ordered demolition drive on May 1.

Vijay Singh also allegedly shot dead Assistant Town Planner Shail Bala Sharma when she was supervising the sealing process at the Narayani Guest House on the Dharampur-Kasauli road.

Singh's condition had worsened on May 10 and he had to be put on a ventilator at Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in  Chandigarh where he was admitted after the incident.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had also met him at the hospital on May 9.

Gulab Singh was a member of Sharma's team and was a resident of a village in Kasauli.

On May 3, a joint team of Himachal Pradesh and Delhi police had arrested the 54-year-old accused from Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district.

After the shooting incident, Solan district magistrate had issued an order directing the affected hotel and guest house owners and any staff working there to deposit their firearms, weapons and ammunition at the nearest police stations immediately.

The apex court had on April 17 ordered the state government to demolish unauthorised structures in several hotels and guest houses in Kasauli and Dharampur areas of Solan and four teams were constituted by the authorities to carry out the work.  -- PTI

IMAGE: The accused Vijay Singh, sitting, after being arrested. Photograph: ANI