The body of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, a staffer at an Uttarakhand resort who went missing a few days ago, was found on Saturday in a canal. The discovery prompted the BJP to suspend the father and brother of the prime accused in the murder case.
The prime accused is BJP leader Vinod Arya's son Pulkit, who was arrested with two others on Friday.
The party has suspended Vinod Arya, a member of the national executive of BJP OBC Morcha, as well as his other son Ankit, a minister of state.
Ankita, a resident of Dobh in Srikot, used to work at the resort owned by Pulkit Arya in Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal. She went missing on September 18.
Following the recovery of the body from the Chilla canal, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered an SIT probe led by DIG P. Renuka Devi to probe the murder.
Taking to Twitter, Dhami said: "Today morning, Ankita's body was recovered. Heart-broken with this heart-wrenching incident."
On directions of the Chief Minister, the resort has been razed to the ground.
Strict action will be taken against the officers who were involved in the illegal construction of the resort, Dhami said.
"It is our resolve that the those guilty of this heinous crime will not be spared," he added.
Ankita's family had lodged a missing complaint on September 21 with the revenue police and on the District Magistrate's direction, the matter was transferred to regular police the next day.
Taking cognisance of the incident, Ashok Kumar, Director General of Police, Uttarakhand, had directed the Superintendent of Police, Pauri for a speedy investigation into the incident.
Following the arrest of the accused, they told the police that after murdering Ankita, they threw her body in the canal.
Under the guidance of DGP Uttarakhand, the SDRF commenced a search operation. Deep divers were also deployed to look for the body at the bottom of the canal
The search operation resumed this morning during which the body was found.
The body has been handed over to the district police.
'My name is the guarantee of security in the country', PM Modi says in Karnataka
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that his name is the guarantee of security in the country, adding it was his primary duty to protect the citizens of the nation.
9 held for gang rape of minors in Meghalaya
Nine persons were arrested by the police in connection with the rape of minor girls in the South West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, officials said on Sunday.
Indian Coast Guard apprehends Pakistani boat with huge consignment of narcotics
In a major success, the Indian Coast Guard, following an overnight aerial-maritime joint operation with the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), on Sunday apprehended a Pakistan boat in the Arabian Sea, west of Gujarat's Porbandar, and seized a large haul of narcotics.
Decision to build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya should have been taken on next day of Independence, PM Modi says in K'taka
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that the decision to build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya should have been taken the very next day after the country achieved Independence in 1947.
Rahul slams BJD-BJP in Odisha rally, says both in collusion to benefit few corporates
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, stepping up the party’s campaign in Odisha on Sunday lashed out at the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government and the opposition BJP while accusing them of having ‘married’ each other for personal gains and befooling the public.
PM Modi has already scored a century in first two phases of LS polls: Amit Shah
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already scored a century of seats in the first two phases of Lok Sabha polls.
Govt extends shutdown of schools in Tripura till May 1, heat wave alert extends
In view of the intense heat wave, the Tripura government has announced an extension of shutdown of all government aided schools and privately managed schools till May 1 next.
Despite having a woman CM, females in West Bengal most unsafe: JP Nadda
BJP national president J. P. Nadda on Sunday launched a blistering attack on the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal, saying that despite having a woman chief minister, females in the state are most unsafe.