Rakshit Shah, a student in Rishikesh, and his family did not light diyas, buy fireworks, invite friends or distribute sweets this Diwali.

They were not alone. Many residents of Rishikesh refrained from celebrating Diwali on Monday in protest at the murder of a 19-year-old receptionist from a resort 22km from the town, in connection with which a BJP leader's son has been arrested.

A group of men and women protesting on the roadside on Tuesday said they would celebrate only after "her killers are hanged" and the names of the VIPs who were customers of the resort were exposed.

According to the victim's friends, she was murdered for refusing to be forced into a prostitution racket for VIP clients that was purportedly being run at the resort, and for threatening to expose it.

Pulkit Arya, son of now-suspended BJP leader Vinod Arya, and employees Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta have been arrested on the charge of kidnapping, beating and throwing the receptionist into a canal, where she drowned, in Rishikesh on September 23.

Over 250 members of the Yuva Nyaya Sangharsh Samiti - which works among the poor - have been on a dharna at the Koyal Grant Crossing in Rishikesh since October 14, demanding justice for the murdered woman. It had appealed to people not to celebrate Diwali.

Samiti members said that about 10,000 people in Rishikesh, which has a population of about 2 lakh, didn't celebrate Diwali.

"We didn't observe Diwali because it would be a sham celebration when such killers remain unpunished. Most people in the woman's village in (neighbouring) Pauri Garhwal (district) did not celebrate Diwali, either," Rakshit, who is not a member of the Samiti but was at the protest site, told reporters on Tuesday.

Pramila Rawat, a Samiti member, said: "Despite all the state government's efforts to prevent people from meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Uttarakhand last week, some of us managed to get within a few kilometres of Badrinath on October 21, when Modi was there.

"However, the police arrested us before we could reach Mana village, where Modi addressed a public meeting. They brought us to Pandukeshwar and released us after a few hours."

Pandukeshwar is a town 13km from Badrinath.

"We had written letters in blood to the Prime Minister, appealing to him to ensure the victim got justice, but the government appears uninterested in punishing the son of the BJP leader and the VIPs involved in the (sex) racket," Rawat alleged.

The protesters are furious at the state government's delay in forming the promised fast-track court to try the murder.

Yuddhveer Singh Chauhan, a protester, said: "We stand by the victim's parents, who have demanded a CBI probe, and want to know the names of the VIPs who were clients of the resort. This protest will continue until our demands are met."

Rakesh Uniyal, another protester, said: "We thank the people of Rishikesh for listening to our appeal and not celebrating Diwali."

Ashok Kumar, Uttarakhand director-general of police, said: "We are looking into all aspects of the case. Nobody will be spared."