Man, minor girl found dead in hotel room after alleged suicide in UP's Muzaffarnagar

SAHARANPUR: A 26-year-old man and a ‘minor’ girl, who had gone ‘missing’ in Muzaffarnagar district two days ago, allegedly died by suicide after consuming poison in a hotel room in the Nanauta area, police said on Saturday. The deceased man has been identified as Ajmal, police said. The girl's father, who had lodged a case against Ajmal at Budhana on charges of kidnapping his daughter, mentioned her age as 14 in the FIR, while Ajmal's family claimed she was 18. Saharanpur police said they are verifying the age of the deceased girl. Both Ajmal and the girl were from a village under Budhana police station limits in Muzaffarnagar and belonged to the same community, police said. Nanauta SHO Naveen Kumar told PTI that Ajmal had checked into ‘Hotel Blue One’ two days ago and was in touch with his cousin Rizwan via video call. During one such call, he reportedly showed Rizwan a packet containing a poisonous substance and expressed his intent to end his life despite repeated attempts by the latter to dissuade him. Rizwan immediately alerted the family, who reached the hotel on Friday evening and found both Ajmal and the girl unconscious. The two were taken to a community health centre at Rampur Maniharan, from where they were referred to a higher medical facility in Shamli. Both were declared dead by doctors at a private hospital in Shamli, police said. Further investigation is underway, police added.