PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE /Dehradun
A Mahapanchayat was organised outside Parade Ground on Sunday in Dehradun to demand justice for Ankita Bhandari under the banner of Ankita Nyay Yatra Sanyukt Sangharsh Manch. Leaders from the Congress, other parties of the INDI Alliance, statehood activists and various social and public interest organisations took part in the gathering. The opposition party leaders demanded that the murder case should be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the supervision of the Supreme Court. They also questioned the filing of an FIR in the case by environmentalist Anil Prakash Joshi.
Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat said that it was the public’s demand that the case should be probed by the CBI and monitored by the Supreme Court. He alleged that a State-sponsored FIR had been lodged in the case and the people are questioning the locus standi of the complainant in the case.
Ankita Nyay Yatra Sanyukt Sangharsh Manch member Mohit Dimri accused the State government of trying to protect influential people in the case. He said the clever manner in which the CBI probe has been initiated is a clear example of this, as the investigation is being carried out on the complaint of environmentalist Anil Prakash Joshi. He added that the struggle for justice will continue and the demand for a supreme court monitored CBI inquiry will not be withdrawn.
During the Mahapanchayat, Samajwadi Party national secretary Satyanarayan Sachan said that the CBI inquiry in the case should be based on the complaint of the victim’s parents. He alleged that the government recommended the CBI probe on the complaint of an environmentalist who has no direct connection with the family. He also said that those who destroyed evidence in the case should be included in the CBI probe.
CPI (ML) State secretary Indresh Maikhuri said that the government recommended the CBI inquiry only after pressure from the public. He said that the victim’s family and social organisations had been demanding a CBI probe since the beginning, but the government delayed the decision. The investigation was recommended after about three years, which raises serious questions, he added.
Various speakers on the occasion reiterated the demand for a court-monitored CBI probe, adding that the complaint on which the CBI probe is based has no link with the victim’s family and demanded a fair and transparent investigation to ensure justice for Ankita Bhandari.
Mahapanchayat lacked crowds & issues, says BJP
DEHRADUN: The BJP State president Mahendra Bhatt said that the Mahapanchayat held in the Ankita Bhandari issue was a failure considering the limited crowd and lack of issues. He said that it is unfortunate that politics is being played using matters on which the government has taken action according to the sentiments of the Bhandari family. People saw the political flags being displayed in the name of a social movement. He opined that the general public maintained a distance from the event. The number of people who attended the Mahapanchayat is less than the number of people from the opposition who joined the BJP on Sunday, Bhatt claimed.
