A BJP leader’s son and two employees of a resort he owns here were arrested on Friday for allegedly killing its receptionist, Ankita, who had been missing for the last few days, police said. The case raised uproar among locals, who demanded ‘bulldozer justice’ from Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
CM Dhami also announced that an SIT under Deputy Inspector General of Police P Renuka Devi has been formed to investigate the case.
Who is Ankita Bhandari?
Ankita Bhandari was a 19-year-old resident of Srikot in Pauri. She worked as a receptionist at Vanantra Resort in Uttarakhand’s Rishikesh. After she went “missing” on September 19, Ankita’s parents lodged a complaint at a revenue police outpost as they did not find her in her room on Monday morning.
Revenue police Sub-Inspector Vivek Kumar at Ganga Bhogpur Talla allegedly delayed filing a report immediately in the matter and made the Ankita’s parents wait for two hours and misbehaving with them. Talla has been suspended, officials said.
The body of Ankita was recovered from Chilla canal on Saturday morning.
Who Killed Ankita Bhandari?
Three accused — Pulkit Arya, who owns the resort in Yamkeshwar block here, resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta – confessed to have killed Ankita. They threw her body into the Cheela canal, Pauri Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Shekhar Chandra Suyal told news agency PTI. Initially, they tried to mislead police but they confessed to the crime when they were interrogated sternly, he said.
Pulkit Arya, Bhaskar and Gupta were arrested after they confessed to have killed the woman. They have been sent to 14-day judicial custody by Kotdwar court.
Who is Pulkit Arya?
Pulkit Arya is the son of Vinod Arya, a BJP leader from Haridwar. Vinod Arya was formerly the chairman of the Uttarakhand Mati Kala Board with a state minister’s rank.
Vinod Arya was a Minister of State in the previous BJP government headed by Trivendra Singh Rawat. Vinod does not hold any post in the Uttarakhand BJP at present, state party unit media incharge Manveer Chauhan said.
More details on Ankita Bhandari’s Murder
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami described the incident as “extremely sad and unfortunate”, and said those responsible would be given “strict punishment”. “The police are doing their work and justice to the victim will be ensured,” he said.
Meanwhile, a massive protest erupted in Rishikesh on Friday during the transport of the accused in the 19-year-old receptionist’s murder case. Locals gheraoed the police vehicle that was carrying the accused and also reportedly thrashed them.
Several local residents also attempted to vandalise the resort but were stopped by the police, officers said.
#WATCH | Rishikesh, Uttarakhand: Women gherao the Police vehicle that was carrying the accused in Ankita Bhandari murder case
The 19-yr-old receptionist went missing a few days ago & her body was found today. 3 accused, incl Pulkit -owner of the resort where she worked- arrested pic.twitter.com/v3IK8zE1xI
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 23, 2022
Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar on Friday said the case was transferred to the Laxman Jhula police and within 24 hours all three accused were arrested.
In a video statement, Additional SP (Kotdwar) Shekhar Suyal said the case was forwarded to the Laxman Jhula station by senior officials after new information came to light.
“We found that what was mentioned in the missing report was not what actually happened. The resort employees’ statements did not match, the circumstantial evidence told us differently… the room from where the girl allegedly went missing did not have any signs of someone having slept there,” the Additional SP said.
“We traced the phones, checked CCTV footage, and took statements. We confirmed that four persons left the resort on the said date and only three returned. Our next step was to arrest the three persons. Initially, they presented themselves as complainants and claimed that they, along with the girl, went (to Rishikesh on September 18) and returned safely. They claimed that the girl had dinner at night and slept alone in a room from where she went missing,” he said.
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Source: News18