Reston, Virginia, 24 June 2012

Fairfax County Police have made an arrest of Abir Ali, 20, of Prince George’s County, MD in the death of NRI Gujarati Bharat Patel, who was found dead near his apartment in the 11900 block of Winterthur Lane on Saturday.

Detectives arrested Abir at noon on Thursday following a search of his home. Ali is being held by the Office of the Sheriff in Prince George’s County and will be extradited to Fairfax County to face charges, said police public information officer Eddy Azcarate.

Ali has been charged with murder.

Patel, 40, was part-owner of the new Hunters Woods Dunkin’ Donuts, which opened on June 6. Ali was a family friend of Patel’s who had assisted in the opening of the store, Azcarate said.

Police were called to the Winterthur Apartments near Hunters Woods just after midnight on Saturday in response to a fight. They arrived at the scene but found no fight. They returned after 2 a.m., when Patel was reported missing.

Police then found Patel dead in the bushes. An autopsy revealed he suffered blunt force trauma to the upper body. Police do not have details on a murder weapon or motive.

The death was Reston’s first homicide of 2012.

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