Woman murdered in resort

PROTESTERS in India’s northern Uttarakhand state turned out on Sunday (25) to demand an impartial probe into the alleged murder of a young woman who worked at a resort owned by the son of a former state minister, officials said on Sunday.

Police found the body of 19-yearold Ankita Bhandari on Saturday near a bridge over the River Ganges in Rishikesh city. Local police said that preliminary investigations showed the body was thrown in a canal after Bhandari was killed.

She had worked as a receptionist at a resort owned by Pulkit Arya, the son of Vinod Arya who had served as a minister in the in Uttarakhand state government for India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) party.

Police said they had arrested Pulkit Arya, as well as a resort manager and an assistant manager on suspicion of murder. Bhandari’s parents refused to conduct funeral rites until their demand for a more comprehensive postmortem was met.

Local BJP officials said Vinod Arya was expelled from the party on Saturday after his son’s arrest.