Congress veteran and former chief minister Harish Rawat began a 24-hour dharna at a park in Dehradun on Monday to pressure Uttarakhand’s BJP government to name the VIP linked to the circumstances behind the murder of a teenaged receptionist at a resort.

A now-suspended BJP leader’s son who owns the resort has been arrested in connection with the murder of the 19-year-old, who was allegedly thrown into a canal for refusing to prostitute herself for a VIP guest whom neither the government nor the investigators have named.

“We want to know the name of the VIP to whom the receptionist refused to provide special services despite being pressured by the BJP leader’s son, and for which she was killed,” Rawat, who began the dharna under a canopy at Gandhi Park along with about 200 others at noon, told reporters.

“Protests seeking justice for the daughter of Uttarakhand are going on at over a dozen places in the state. My dharna will provide them moral support to continue till they win.”

Uttarakhand Congress vice-president Surendra Kumar said: “Besides members of the Congress and some other political parties, activists from many social organisations are participating in the dharna. The government is trying to suppress evidence and protect the VIP.”

A civil society organisation has been holding a relay dharna in Rishikesh since the receptionist’s body was fished out of a canal on September 23, apparently four days after her murder.

Pulkit Arya, son of now-suspended BJP politician Vinod Arya and owner of the Vanantara Resort in Yamkeshwar, Pauri Garhwal, was arrested along with resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta under public pressure.

The police have acknowledged that a friend of the victim had shown them a WhatsApp chat, dated September 18, where the receptionist told him that Pulkit was asking her to provide “special service to a VIP” on September 19. At least two former female employees of the Aryas too have said that Pulkit ran a prostitution and drug racket from the resort.

The resort, built illegally on forestland allotted to Vinod to open a manufacturing unit for ayurvedic medicines, was demolished by the authorities immediately after the discovery of the body. The receptionist’s parents say the move was aimed at destroying evidence and protecting the Aryas. Vinod, a former state minister, was suspended from the BJP after the murder.

The victim’s father told reporters at his home in Pauri that the Pushkar Singh Dhami government was resorting to “delaying tactics” so people would forget about the murder, allowing it to protect the killers.

Dhami said: “The special investigation team is probing the case properly. We will take it to its conclusion. The high court rejected the plea for a CBI inquiry because it was not needed. The accused will not be spared.”