Saharanpur, Sep 21 (IANS): A 40-year-old school teacher and his student were found hanging from a noose in a forest in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, the police said on Wednesday.

The victims, who had been missing since September 3, were allegedly in a relationship.

Senior Superintendent of Police Vipin Tada said: "Virendra, the teacher, and the 17-year-old girl, a student of class nine, were found hanging in the forest late on Tuesday night."

The teacher, a resident of Rasulpur village, was having an affair with the girl who studied in the same school where he worked.

The girl's family had lodged a report of kidnapping and the police started searching for them but were unable to trace them because of their changing locations, he said.

The SSP said that late on Tuesday evening, a police team went to the forest on reports of foul smell emanating in the area and found the bodies in a very bad condition.

"It appears that the two had committed suicide about 10 days ago," he said.

A bike was also recovered from the area but no suicide note has been found.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem.