Sunday, 18 December 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Special Investigation Team probing the infamous Ankita Bhandari murder case has prepared a 500-page charge sheet and sent it to the prosecution office. Informing the media here on Saturday, additional director general of police, V Murugesan said that there are about 100 witnesses and 30 plus exhibits in the investigation so far. The charge sheet is likely to be filed in the court on Monday.
The ADG said that while the charge sheet is likely to be filed in the court on Monday, the SIT investigation in the case will continue and in case of further revelations from polygraph test and narco analysis, the same will be filed in a supplementary charge sheet. The charge sheet is being sent to the court against the three accused under IPC sections 302, 201, 120B, 354A and 5(1) B of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. While two of the accused have given their consent for the narco and polygraph tests, the third accused had filed an application in the court of judicial magistrate, Kotdwar, seeking time.
It will be recalled that 19-year old Ankita Bhandari was employed as a receptionist at the Vanantara Resort of Pulkit Arya, the son of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vinod Arya in Yamkeshwar area of Pauri district. On September 24 her body was recovered from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh about six days after the resort owner first reported her missing. Earlier, the case was transferred from the Revenue police to the regular police and later the SIT was formed to investigate the case. Along with Pulkit Arya, the resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and Pulkit Gupta are accused in the murder of Ankita Bhandari. During interrogation, the trio had stated that they had pushed her into the canal. It is alleged that they were pressurising her to provide “special service” to some VIP guests at the resort which she had refused.
