Uttarakhand leader expelled by BJP after son held in teen's murder case

Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday expelled a leader from the party's primary membership after his son was held in a teen's murder case in Uttarakhand. Vinod Arya, the father of the main accused Pulkit Arya, was a former chairman of Uttarakhand Mati Kala Board with the rank of state minister. Ankit Arya, brother of Pulkit Arya, was also relieved by the state government from the post of Deputy Chairman of the Uttarakhand Other Backward Classes Commission.

As anger over the murder of a 19-year-old woman allegedly by Vinod Arya's son, Pulkit Arya, raged on Saturday, locals vandalized the resort owned by the accused and set it on fire. A part of the resort was earlier demolished on the order of Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who expressed pain over the death of the woman and announced the setting up of an SIT, led by DIG police P Renuka Devi, to conduct a speedy probe into the killing.

Pulkit Arya was arrested along with two resort staff, Saurabh Bhaskar (35) and Ankit Gupta (19). Police said that Bhaskar worked as a manager at the resort and Gupta was his assistant. Pauri Garhwal senior superintendent of police (SSP) Yashwant Singh stated that Arya had approached the police with a missing complaint to mislead the investigation.