Bodies of UP couple found in Uttarakhand

Bijnor, Dec 23 (IANS) The highly decomposed bodies of two lovers from Bijnor district were found in the forest area of Chidiyapur village on the UP-Uttarakhand border late on Saturday night.According to the police, the bodies appeared to be around 25-days-old but it is yet to be confirmed if it was a case of suicide or so-called honour killing. The couple had eloped about a month ago.The Haridwar police have sent the bodies for post mortem at the district hospital and approached Bijnor police for further information.The victims have been identified as Mahipal Singh, 30, a resident of Tahrpur Ishaq, Jalalabad, Najibabad in Bijnor and Ritu, 25, a resident of Beermpur village in Najibabad.Both belonged to the same caste and it is still unclear if their parents were opposed to their relationship.Mahipal was working in the Merchant Navy and Ritu was a student.Shyampur SHO Deepak Singh Kathait said, "The bodies which were about a kilometre inside the forest area of Chidiyapur village, were spotted by locals who informed the police.""An identity card was recovered from Mahipal's pocket, which led to Ritu being identified too. However, at this stage, it is not clear if it was a case of suicide or honour killing."According to police, the woman's parents had registered a missing report at a local police station on November 20.
--IANS amita/kr