Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh), Feb 4 (IANS): The body of a 31-year-old Pilibhit farmer, who was missing for the past nine days, has been traced to a hospital in Delhi.

The police claim that he was killed in an accident but the family members, after seeing the body, have alleged that he had been murdered.

Balvinder Singh, a farmer from Bhopatpur village of Pilibhit, had left home on January 23 to take part in the farmers' protest at Ghazipur border, from where he went missing under mysterious circumstances on January 24.

Balvinder's younger brother, Virender Singh, said that he was searching for his brother near Ghazipur for the last one week.

Farmers from Pilibhit, who had accompanied his brother, were unable to give any information about him. Virender returned home on January 30, and filed a missing complaint. He also published a search notice in the NCR newspapers seeking information about Balvinder.

"On February 1, Delhi Police called saying that Balvinder was killed in an accident. Had my brother collided with a speeding vehicle, as alleged by Delhi Police, his abdomen and leg bones would have been crushed. But we found no sign of injuries on any part of his body barring multiple wounds on his face, which looked as if someone had crushed it," Virender told local reporters.

Virender brought back his brother's body to his village and performed the last rites on Wednesday.

When contacted, Pilibhit's Superintendent of Police (SP) Jai Prakash Yadav said that Delhi Police had only shared information on Balvinder Singh's accidental death with him.