Freed drug Briton found dead

Police are hunting two men following the death of a British student in India.

Anna Bartlett, 25, who was freed from an Arab jail this year after being convicted of drug smuggling, was discovered at the hippy resort of Manali in the north of the country.

She died after apparently swallowing a large dose of the horse tranquilliser ketamine, police said. Her body was covered in cuts.

Police are searching for two Irishmen who went missing shortly before Miss Bartlett's body was found. Witnesses said the men tried to hide her body in a guest house and then attempted to throw it in a river.

Police sources said: "There were signs she had been beaten up. We do not know why they tried to dispose of the body, but it is being treated as a murder inquiry."

Detectives are also investigating the possibility that she committed suicide. Officers found a letter from a friend apparently warning her about "taking drastic action".

Miss Bartlett travelled to India after spending time with her parents in Southend. She was released from a United Arab Emirates prison in June after being granted a pardon two years into her 10-year sentence for trying to smuggle £100,000 of cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis into Dubai.

Her family said that she had shown signs of mental instability before her arrest and had attempted suicide.

Her mother Penny said: "All we know is that she was found and that an autopsy is being carried out. It is so awful."