February 8, 2026e-Paper

The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.

First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.

Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.

Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in!

Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers

Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there

The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.

February 8, 2026e-Paper

Published - February 09, 2026 04:25 am IST - Ayodhya

This image is used for representational purposes only. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The body of a police sub-inspector, who had been missing since Thursday (February 5, 2026) from Basti district, was recovered from the Ghaghra river in Ayodhya on Sunday (February 8, 2026), police said.

The deceased was identified as Sub-Inspector Ajay Gaur, who was posted at the Parsarampur police station in Basti district. He had gone missing under suspicious circumstances on February 5.

Police said that during the search operation, Gaur’s abandoned motorcycle was found near Amhat Ghat in Basti district, deepening fears of some untoward incident.

SP (City) Ayodhya Chakrapani Tripathi said the sub-inspector’s body was recovered from the river in the Vikramjot police outpost area.

“The body was in a full police uniform, due to which identification was quick,” Tripathi said.

According to police, Gaur had been missing since the evening of February 5.

In her statement to the police, his wife said she last spoke to her husband that evening for just two to three seconds before the call got disconnected.

“When she tried to contact him again later in the night, his mobile phone was switched off. The next morning, when there was still no contact, she called the constable who stays with the sub-inspector and learnt that he had not returned to his room since the previous night,” an officer said.

The wife also told police that Gaur had received death threats in the past due to an old case-related grudge, the officer added.

Following her complaint, police registered a missing person case and launched a search operation, which led to the recovery of the body.

Further investigation is underway to ascertain the circumstances leading to the sub-inspector’s death, police said.

Published - February 09, 2026 04:25 am IST

Uttar Pradesh / death / investigation / crime, law and justice

Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.