india

Updated: Mar 15, 2014 00:53 IST

A 24-year-old Japanese national was found gruesomely murdered on Friday morning with his body hanging from a bamboo pole on the banks of the Ganga.

The deceased, Amajato Atomo, was a native of Nagasaki city, Japan. The Japanese embassy has been informed of the incident.

The police rushed to the spot — Samne ghat — after getting information from locals, only to find the body tied to a pole with its lower part touching the ground. The cops recovered $10, a calculator, two cigarettes, few medicines and a planning calendar from a bag lying beside the body. The motive for the murder hasn’t been ascertained yet.

“The body was partially hanging and the exact reason of death will be found after the post-mortem examination,” said Shalini, circle officer, Bhelupur.

Atomo had reached New Delhi on March 11 and arrived in Varanasi the next day. According to reports, locals had spotted Atomo at Assi ghat on Thursday evening.

This is the second death of a foreigner in Varanasi in the last eight days. On March 7, Albert (56), a US national, was found dead in a lodge at Assi ghat of an apparent drug overdose.