Uttarakhand news ankita bhandari

By India Today Web Desk: The death of a 19-year-old girl who worked as a receptionist in Uttarakhand has sparked outrage across the country. The BJP also took action against party leader Vinod Arya after his son was arrested in connection with the case. The missing person case, which turned into a murder case on Friday, has now led to protests across the state. Ankita Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at a resort in Yamkeshwar block of Pauri district in Uttarakhand, was reported missing a few days ago. Her body was recovered on Saturday. A day before, the police had arrested Pulkit Arya, son of now expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, and his two employees in connection with the 19-year-old girl’s death. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered the Here are the top developments in the case: ANKITA’S BODY RECOVERED A post mortem of her body was done at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh on Saturday. Her body was handed over to her family for cremation. Meanwhile, Ankita Bhandari's father has demanded death penalty for the three accused. GIRL KILLED FOR REFUSING ‘SPECIAL SERVICES’ DGP Ashok Kumar said that Ankita Bhandari was being pressured by the resort owner to provide "special services" to guests. The Uttarakhand top cop said that this much has been known from the girl's chat with a friend of hers. ALSO READ | Earlier, a Facebook friend of Ankita Bhandari had reportedly said that his friend was killed because she refused t...

She was the daughter of a former security guard and an anganwadi worker. She had completed Class 12, and was keen to go to college. But then, with her father having quit his job as a guard years ago, she decided to sign up as a receptionist at a resort late last month. She did not, however, live long enough to collect even her first salary. This, in short, is the story of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, according to her family members. On Saturday, the police recovered Ankita’s body from a canal, six days after she went missing from the resort in the Laxman Jhula area of Uttarakhand. Also Read | According to Ankita’s family members, she joined the resort on August 28, moving from her home in Dobh Srikot village, around 130 km away. “Due to the financial condition of her family, she had to leave her education after intermediate from Bhagat Ram School in Pauri, and start working. Ankita’s father Virendra Bhandari used to work as a private security guard at Chauras dam, but left the job a few years ago. The only earning member in the family was her mother Soni Bhandari, who works as an anganwadi worker. Her elder brother Sachin is studying in “The condition of the family was not very good and that is why she had to leave the village and shift to the resort after she was offered a job. We are not sure how she was approached but on August 28, a car from the resort picked her up. At the resort, she was given a room and used to stay there. She was offered a salary of Rs 10,000 a mon...

Police are likely to question Pushp regarding their WhatsApp chats, some of which have gone viral and the about the events that took place on September 18, day Ankita went missing. The cops will also question him about the details that Ankita shared with him ever since she started working in the Vanantara resort, owned by

“An SIT (special investigation team) has been constituted under the leadership of DIG P Renuka Devi for thorough and early investigation of the killing of Ankita and ensure harshest punishment to the culprits. Bulldozer action was taken last night against the illegally built resort of the accused,” said Dhami in a tweet on Saturday. On the other hand, Senior Superintendent of Police Yashwant Chauhan said that the police had enough evidence to nail the accused. “We have seen messages by Ankita on how the main accused Pulkit Arya made advances towards her and tried to force her for ‘additional services’ apart from doing her job as a receptionist in the Vanantra Resort,” said Chauhan as quoted by PTI.

“The SIT visited and inspected the spot where the incident took place on September 18. They also went to the resort where the girl was working and the place where her dead body was recovered. We have collected evidence from all the spots. With the investigation so far, we are sure that something must have happened to the girl which led to the incident. We will produce the witnesses and evidence in court. We will ensure that the accused get the maximum punished and we will request the matter for trial in a fast-track court to ensure speedy justice,” the SIT official said. An employee at the resort has, meanwhile, alleged that Ankita had called him on September 17. She was crying and asked him to take her bags out of the resort. He also confirmed that he saw Ankita at around 3 pm with three other people. However, Ankita was not with them when they returned to the resort. He also further confirmed that Ankit Arya, brother of the owner of the resort, Pulkit Arya came at 8 am on September 18 and discussed about preparing dinner for four people and said that he would have dinner in Ankita's room. This was countered by the employee as he said that the service boy can make the dinner, however, the resort's helper alleged that Ankit wanted to mislead the staff as Ankita had not returned with them.

Nearly three months after 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari was found dead near Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, police on Friday said no forensic evidence was recovered from the resort where she worked as a receptionist. The bulldozer action had triggered allegations from the woman’s family, local residents and opposition parties that the resort was partially demolished to destroy evidence and save the key accused. The Vanantara resort in Pauri Garhwal is owned by Pulkit Arya, who is the son of now-expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinod Arya. Pulkit and two employees of the resort have been arrested so far. V Murugesan, additional director general of police (ADGP), law and order, said no fingerprints or biological evidence were found in the resort, which was partially demolished by authorities after the incident. “Our forensic team did not find any forensic evidence, fingerprints, biological samples, from the resort. We submitted the video and photo evidence to the high court,” he said. HT reached out to Bhandari’s lawyer and her family for a response but did not get one immediately. Bhandari’s body was found on September 24, six days after she went missing from her home. Police said the woman was murdered on September 18 by the three arrested men after she refused to provide “extra services” to VIP men at the resort. All three accused are currently in jail. The murder had sparked massive outrage and protests were reported from various parts of the state. Angry locals even...

From the day Ankita Bhandari vanished, there was suspicion of foul play. On September 18, the 19-year-old receptionist at a resort in Rishikesh in the Himalayan State of Uttarakhand went missing. The local law enforcers, the patwaris, did not pay much attention to the case. Five days later, on September 23, her body was recovered from Chilla canal after three men confessed to killing Ankita and dumping her body there. The case gained attention because one of the main accused, 35-year-old Pulkit Arya, is the owner of the resort, Vanantara, and the son of the now-suspended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinod Arya. The once-luxurious resort, now bulldozed and vandalised, is central to the Ankita Bhandari murder case. She was reportedly coerced by Pulkit Arya into providing sexual favours to customers, which first led to an altercation between the two and later to her killing. Ankita Bhandari had joined Vanantara Resort less than a month before her death. Police say there is evidence of blunt force trauma on her body. | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR Following Ankita’s murder, the authorities are also looking into the disappearance of Priyanka, another young woman who vanished from the resort eight months ago. Local people erupted in rage, demanding the death penalty for the accused. Protesters vandalised local BJP MLA Renu Bisht’s car. They also stopped the police jeep that was carrying the three suspects to the local court, ripped their clothes and broke the jeep’s...