Last update - 00:00 15/02/2008
Missing Israeli in India feared dead
By Barak Ravid and Haaretz Service
An Israeli who went missing on a trip to India is now feared dead, after a body bearing his passport was found near his hotel.
However, the body has not yet been positively identified as the missing man, Vadim Sputelnik, 35, of Tel Aviv. His wife left for India last night to identify him.
Sputelnik, who was doing his doctorate in physics at the Weizmann Institute, went to India for a conference at which he presented the results of his research. Afterward, he stayed on for a week of touring, and was supposed to return to Israel last Friday.
On Thursday, however, the owner of his hotel in Rajasthan told the police he had disappeared, after he failed to return from a tour and also missed his check-out time. After a search, the local police found a body with an Israeli passport on it in a nearby wood.
The police concluded that the victim had been murdered during a robbery, since no wallet, money or camera was found on the body.
In July, Israeli tourist Dror Shek, 23, was murdered in the Manali area of northern India by robbers who ambushed him on a remote village road.
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