Congress demands SC judge-monitored CBI probe in Ankita Bhandari murder case

PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun

Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Ganesh Godiyal has demanded that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi should order the Pushkar Singh Dhami government of Uttarakhand to recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe monitored by a serving judge of Supreme Court (SC) in the Ankita Bhandari murder case.

Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday, PCC president said that in a video which is circulating in the social media, Urmila Sanawar, the purported second wife of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore has revealed the name of BJP Uttarakhand in-charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam in the Ankita Bhandari murder case. He said that Gautam is in-charge of the party in Uttarakhand which has given the slogan of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao. 

Godiyal said after the sensational murder of Ankita Bhandari all got suspicious when the room which was given by the resort owners, was demolished using a bulldozer.

Godiyal said that following the bulldozer action, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami claimed the credit on social media platforms. “At that time, I thought that instead of demolishing Ankita’s room, the bulldozer should have been used on the residence of the BJP leader who owned the resort. We suspected that the entire action was taken to destroy the evidence,’’ he said. 

Godiyal said that after the claim made by the purported wife of former BJP MLA Rathore, another woman Arti Gaur has claimed that the bulldozer was used on the order of local BJP MLA Renu Bisht to destroy evidence. Interestingly, Bisht has said that the bulldozer action was taken on the order of the CM. “The State government should answer as to why the room of Ankita was demolished in haste,’’ he asked.

Godiyal claimed that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) threatened the witnesses in the Ankita Bhandari murder case and the State government tried to protect the accused in the Ankita murder case.

The PCC president said that every time PM Modi visited Uttarakhand in the last few years, the Congress party requested him to take action against the VIP involved in the murder of Ankita Bhandari.

He said that in the light of new revelations, the Uttarakhand CM should order a CBI probe in the case.

He warned that the Congress party would organise a massive protest in Pauri if the case is not handed over to the CBI in the next few days.