One person lost his life while three were injured during celebratory gunfire at a wedding in Karnal, Haryana allegedly by controversial Hindu Mahasabha leader Sadhvi Deva Thakur and her security guards.
While Sunita Rani, the groom's maternal aunt, died in a hospital, the condition of injured Amarjit Singh, Vinod, Anil and 11-year-old Manasvi was critical.
Police have registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempt to murder and under Arms Act against Deva Thakur and her six associates.
SP Pankaj Nain told the Times of India, "There were various kinds of weapons. Investigations suggested one of the associates was carrying a .12 bore gun which developed some snag. While fixing the fault, the person had kept the fingers on the trigger and the gun went off as he closed the chamber. The pellets hit Sunita and others."
Approximately 30 rounds were fired by Sadhvi and her men, he added.
The incident triggered outrage as Karnal also happens to be Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's assembly constituency.
The Sadhvi too is no stranger to controversy. In 2015, she was in the line of fire when she said: "The population of Muslims and Christians is growing day by day. To rein in this, Centre will have to impose emergency, and Muslims and Christians will have to be forced to undergo sterilisation so that they can’t increase their numbers."
She has also been quoted as reportedly saying that idols of Hindu gods and goddesses should be placed in mosques and churches.
