A BJP leader’s son and two resort staff members were detained on Friday for allegedly killing Ankita, the resort’s receptionist, who had been missing for a few days. Locals were outraged by the crime and requested that Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami deliver “bulldozer justice.”
An SIT led by Deputy Inspector General of Police P Renuka Devi has been established to look into the situation, according to CM Dhami’s further announcement.
WHO IS ANKITA BHANDARI?
19-year-old Ankita Bhandari was a citizen of Srikot in Pauri. She was a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. Ankita’s parents filed a report with the revenue police after she went “missing” on September 19 since they couldn’t find her in her bed on Monday morning.
Revenue officers Sub-Inspector Vivek Kumar at Ganga Bhogpur Talla is accused of making Ankita’s parents wait for two hours before submitting a report about the incident and acting inappropriately with them. The authorities have suspended Talla.
On Saturday morning, the body of Ankita was pulled from the Chilla canal.
WHO MUDERED ANKITA BHANDARI?
Three suspects, including resort owner Pulkit Arya, resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar, and assistant manager Ankit Gupta, admitted to killing Ankita. According to Pauri Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Shekhar Chandra Suyal, they dropped her body into the Cheela canal. They initially attempted to deceive the authorities, but after severe questioning, he claimed, they confessed to the crime.
After they admitted to killing the woman, Pulkit Arya, Bhaskar, and Gupta were detained. The Kotdwar court has placed them in 14-day judicial custody.
WHO IS PULKIT ARYA?
Vinod Arya, a BJP leader from Haridwar, is the father of Pulkit Arya. Vinod Arya previously served as the state minister-level chairperson of the Uttarakhand Mati Kala Board.
In the previous BJP administration led by Trivendra Singh Rawat, Vinod Arya served as a minister of state. According to Manveer Chauhan, the state party unit’s media coordinator, Vinod does not now occupy any office within the Uttarakhand BJP.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ANKITA BHANDARI’S DEATH
Pushkar Singh Dhami, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, called the tragedy “very sad and tragic” and promised “severe punishment” for those responsible. He declared, “The police are carrying out their duty and the victim will receive justice.”
While the suspects in the 19-year-old receptionist’s murder case were being transported, a sizable protest broke out in Rishikesh. Locals reportedly beat the suspects and the police car that was being driven by them.
Police added that other locals also tried to vandalise the property but were prevented by them.
The three accused were all detained within a day after the case was given to the Laxman Jhula police, according to Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar on Friday.
In a video statement, Additional SP (Kotdwar) Shekhar Suyal said that after new information became available, senior officers sent the case to the Laxman Jhula station.
“We discovered that the incident was not what was described in the missing report. The circumstantial evidence contradicted the statements made by the resort staff… The room where the girl is supposed to have vanished did not show any evidence of previous occupants, according to the Additional SP.
“We tracked down the phones, looked over CCTV footage, and interviewed people. We verified that on the specified date, four people left the resort, and only three of them came back. Arresting the three people was the next thing we did. They initially identified themselves as complainants and asserted that they travelled to Rishikesh on September 18 with the child and returned safely. They asserted that the girl dined at night and spent the night alone in the room where she vanished,” he stated.
