Ankita Bhandari, 19, worked as a front desk executive at a resort in Yamkeshwar, Uttarakhand. On September 24, she was discovered dead in the Cheela Canal near Rishikesh. Her parents had reported her missing six days before.
Ankita Bhandari was slain for refusing to provide guests with “special services.” The son of former Uttarakhand minister Vinod Arya and resort owner Pulkit Arya have both been detained by the police in connection with the murder.
Following protests against the murder, the BJP expelled Vinod Arya and a sibling of Pulkit Arya from the organization. The girl’s family is concerned about whether they will see justice served.
The three suspects have been placed on remand by the Special Investigating Team (SIT) of the Uttarakhand Police, which is looking into Ankita Bhandari’s killing.
Ankita Bhandari murder case
The resort’s owner Pulkit Arya, manager Saurabh Bhaskar, and assistant manager Ankit Gupta are all accused of carrying out Bhandari’s murder. Vinod Arya and his older son, Ankit, were subsequently expelled from the BJP. The position of vice chairperson of the state’s Other Backward Classes Commission was also rescinded from Ankit Arya.
On condition of anonymity, a government official indicated that Arya, Bhaskar, and Gupta might also be brought to the crime scene to determine the chronology of events.
Sub-Inspector Vaibhav Pratap Singh of the revenue police is also being questioned. He is suspended for dereliction of duty for allegedly failing to file a FIR in the case after being contacted. Additionally, the investigative team has transcribed Ankita’s friend’s statement, with whom she spoke on the day of her murder.
According to the preliminary postmortem report made public by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Rishikesh, Ankita Bhandari suffered blunt force trauma injuries prior to passing away, and she ultimately drowned.
To expedite the case investigation, the SIT has formed five teams. Additionally, it has retrieved a cellphone from the canal near Chilla, where Ankita is said to have been tossed. The phone had been given to the forensic team, as stated by the official.
Abusive behavior towards staff
An ex-employee of the Vanantara resort in Rishikesh came out on Monday and said the resort used to host VIPs and bring in girls to entertain them. In addition, she asserted that the defendants, Ankit Gupta and Pulkit Arya, had a history of misconduct with the girls working at the resort.
The ex-employee stated the following in remarks to the news agency ANI: “My employment at the Vanantara resort in Rishikesh began in May, but I ended it in July. Both Ankit Gupta and Pulkit Arya were accused of acting inappropriately and verbally abusing girls. VIPs also visited, and they used to bring females. ”
The death of Ankita Bhandari has provoked outrage
Many protesters flocked to the streets, threw stones, and stopped roads in response to the overwhelming outrage over the death of Ankita Bhandari.
On the Rishikesh-Badrinath road, in Uttarakhand, protesters holding signs seeking justice for Bhandari set up a dharna. A nine-kilometer-long traffic jam was caused by the barricade, which lasted for almost eight hours.
As word of the murder spread, tense protests broke out in the neighborhoods surrounding the resort, with locals shattering windows and even attempting to set a pickle factory on its grounds ablaze.
When the suspects were being transported to a court in Kotdwar, a police car was also attacked by a mob. The car’s windows were broken, and the three men were beaten severely.
Destruction of the proof
The opposition and legal pundits have harshly criticized the midnight demolition of the buildings.
Experts note that the resort, where Ankita Bhandari was last seen, would have been a crucial site for the judicial case. Criminal attorney Vrinda Grover informed Scroll.in that this chamber would have been used as evidence throughout the investigation.
The trial may suffer because of the demolition
The investigation is still in its very early stages, according to Grover. Therefore, at this point, any damage to the property where Ankita Bhandari was living could harm the case.
Grover believed that any alteration to Bhandari’s physical environment would be harmful to the trial. This case will have to be backed by circumstantial evidence, she said. Destroying the room that had been assigned to her might therefore have an effect on the case.
Police should keep a record of the evidence they have gathered. According to criminal defence attorney Abhinav Sekhri, “the police are expected to maintain a case diary outlining all the actions taken in an investigation on a daily basis.”
Grover argued that responsibility for this demolition must be placed on the officials responsible. She observed that it seemed to have been completed in a hurry.
The police must be questioned to find out why they permitted this behaviour. Grover stated that in terms of the law “the demolition amounts to the elimination of evidence.”
Evidence “might have been thrown off from the scene of the crime because of the destruction,” as per Aloke Lal, a former director general of the Uttarakhand police.
Leave a Reply