Lucknow, Jul 17 (IANS): A contractual technician employed at the Lucknow airport was found dead with his throat slit, in a mango orchard.

The victim, identified as 35-year-old Ankit Yadav was the only son of a retired sub-inspector.

On July 14, he returned from a tour of Kedarnath and had gone to lodge a theft report at Sarojini Nagar police station on Sunday.

Ankit, however, did not return home and his father Vijay Yadav went out to search for him.

The same evening, some villagers spotted the body and informed the police.

Police recovered a bloodstained knife, mobile phone, helmet, and a purse.

The identity of the victim was ascertained by his Aadhaar Card recovered from his pocket.

Police recovered Ankit's motorcycle from near the scene and later contacted his father.

Vijay told police that his son had gone to lodge a theft complaint for his mobile phone.

Police recovered his mobile phone from the spot.

SHO, Sarojini Nagar, Shailendra Giri, said: “We have sent the mobile phone to the forensic lab for examination and to retrieve data stored in it. We are probing in case there is a love angle, personal enmity or any other issue that led to the murder.”

The body has been sent for post-mortem.