Foreign couple found dead in Himachal's Manikaran

Shimla/Kullu: The naked bodies of a couple believed to be from Russia were found at a small pond near the holy town of Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district, police said on Friday.

The bodies found Thursday bore some injury marks. Police said it appeared to be a case of suicide, but did not rule out the possibility of murder.

Police said the man and the woman, who were in their twenties, could not be immediately identified. But based on some of the belongings found nearby, they believed that the victims could be from Russia.

Naked bodies of the woman and the man were found inside a kund (hot spring pool) and outside the pool, respectively in Tagri on the banks of the Parvati river, about two kilometers from Manikaran.

ASP Sanjeev Chauhan told PTI the man bore cut marks on his hand and neck, while the woman had injury marks on her hand. Their injuries were not fatal and the cause of death is yet to be ascertained, he said.

A blade, a mobile phone, other belongings and drugs (charas) were also recovered from the spot, he further said.

Prima facie it looks like suicide but things would become clear after the postmortem report is received, he said.

The bodies were sent for postmortem to a regional hospital in Kullu, which referred it to the medical college, Mandi. Their faces were swollen and could not be recognised and the deceased are yet to be identified, police said.

The forensic team has been called to the spot and the police are checking the hotels, homestays and other accommodations to collect details about the deceased, police said.