The body of Sumit Srivastav, a BJP youth wing leader, was found inside his car on National Highway 98 in Palamu district on Sunday, with the police suspecting that he might have been murdered, a senior police officer said.
Morning walkers spotted the body of the 26-year-old Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) leader in the vehicle on the Medininagar-Aurangabad Road on NH 98, Superintendent of Police, Chandan Kumar Sinha said.
The car was locked and bloodstain was found on the victim’s head, Sinha said.
Srivastav was suspected to have been murdered with a sharp weapon, the SP said.
On receiving a call on his mobile phone on Friday midnight, Srivastav had left his hotel in his vehicle after informing his younger brother, the police officer said. “ We are verifying the call details and the culprits will be arrested soon,” the SP said.
Srivastav was murdered elsewhere and the body was dumped in his car, which the accused locked and fled, he said.
The victim's lawyer father, Vijay Kumar Sinha, told the police that the family had dinner together at 10.30 pm on Friday and as usual Sumit along with his younger brother Jatin went to sleep in their hotel, 100 metres from their residence.
On Friday midnight, Srivastav had left the hotel after receiving a call and did not return home, he said. Shops and markets in Hariharganj block headquarter remained closed to protest against the mysterious death of Srivastav who was a treasurer of the BJYM of the Palamu district unit.
District president of BJP Vijayanand Pathak has served an ultimatum of 12 hours to the police to apprehend the perpetrators failing which, he said, the saffron party will launch an agitation. The body has been sent for post-mortem examination to Medinirai Medical College here.
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