BJP leader’s son among three who face public fury for murder of receptionist at Uttarakhand resort

A massive protest ensued in Rishikesh on Friday during the transport of the accused in the 19-year-old receptionist’s murder case. A BJP leader’s son is among those arrested in the case.

Locals gheraoed the police vehicle that was carrying the accused and also reportedly thrashed them.

Police said the three men have confessed to have pushed the teenager into a canal after a dispute, following which she drowned.

The arrested BJP leader’s son, Pulkit Arya, owns a resort in the Yamkeshwar block of Pauri district. The two others – manager Saurabh Bhaskar, and assistant manager Ankit Gupta – have also confessed to the killing. The girl, who worked as a receptionist at the resort, had been missing for the last few days, police said.

Arya is the son of Vinod Arya, a BJP leader from Haridwar, and a former chairman of Uttarakhand Mati Kala Board. According to reports, Vinod Arya has a state minister’s rank but holds no post in the government.

The men said they had thrown her body into the Cheela Canal, Pauri additional superintendent of police Shekhar Chandra Suyal said.

Initially, they tried to mislead the police, but when interrogated sternly they confessed to the crime, Suyal said.

A team has been sent to search for the girl’s body in the canal, he said, adding the case was cracked within 24 hours of being transferred from the revenue police to regular police.

A missing complaint had been lodged at a revenue police outpost after the girl was not found in her room by her parents on Monday morning.