Uttarakhand BJP leader’s son arrested for murder at resort

Haridwar:

Senior BJP leader Vinod Arya’s son, Pulkit Arya, has been arrested for the murder of a 19-year-old woman who worked at a resort he owns at Rishikesh in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand. Two staff members have been arrested too. The body is yet to be found — search was on in Cheela Canal, a nearby water channel — and police are probing the motive.

The woman was missing since a week. 

Police acted swiftly after news went viral on social media with her family naming Pulkit Arya, whose father Vinod Arya currently holds a state minister’s rank without a post in the government. He earlier served as a minister and remained chairperson of Uttarakhand Mati Kala Board, a government organisation for the kumhar (potter) community.

Besides Pulkit Arya, resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta have been arrested, Pauri Additional Superintendent of Police Shekhar Chandra Suyal told PTI. “Initially, they tried to mislead the police, but when interrogated sternly they confessed to the crime,” the officer said.

A ‘missing person’ complaint was filed at a Revenue Police outpost, run by local officials, after the girl was not found in her room by her parents on Monday morning. “The case was cracked within 24 hours of being transferred to regular police,” he added.

State police chief Ashok Kumar said, “This area doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of regular police stations. In Uttarakhand, we have a system of the patwari (land revenue official) registering FIRs. The FIR was registered at the behest of the resort owner (Pulkit Arya) and the family. The case was then transferred to us. Within 24 hours, we have worked it out — the resort owner turned out to be accused. Further investigation is on.”