Indian police launch manhunt for missing state happiness minister

NEW DELHI, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Indian police Friday said they have launched a major manhunt to track down the country's sole happiness minister, a suspect in a murder case.

Lal Singh Arya, the minister for happiness in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, has been missing since early this week after a local court ordered his arrest in connection with the murder of an opposition politician in 2009, police said.

"The 53-year-old minister is missing. We have formed special teams that are looking for him. We are hopeful of arresting him and producing him in the court by Tuesday, which is the next date of hearing in the murder case," a senior police official said.

Madhya Pradesh, ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, is the only state in India to have a happiness minister to boost the wellbeing of its citizens.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has been heading the state government for the past 12 years, is now mulling whether to drop from his Cabinet the accused minister, who also holds the portfolio of five other ministries, highly placed sources said.

The minister has denied any involvement in the murder case and insists he is innocent. Enditem