Ankita Bhandari Case: Uttarakhand cops claim BJP leader's son 'confessed' to killing resort receptionist
Pauri Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Shekhar Chandra Suyal said the trio confessed to the crime after initially trying to mislead the police. The confession came after they were interrogated sternly, he said, adding that they allegedly threw Ankita's body into the Cheela canal after killing her.
FollowA Bharatiya Janata Party leader's son and two employees of a resort he owns in Uttarakhand's Pauri have been arrested for allegedly killing its receptionist, who had been missing for the last few days, police said. Besides, a revenue police sub-inspector was suspended for allegedly misbehaving with the victim's parents when they came to file a missing complaint.
The victim, Ankita Bhandari (19), worked as a receptionist at Ganga Bhojpur resort in the Pauri district. She had been missing since Monday. Her body was recovered from a canal on Saturday morning.
The three accused have been identified as Pulkit Arya, who owns the resort in Yamkeshwar block, resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta. The trio were sent to 14-day judicial custody on Friday.Â
Pulkit is the son of BJP leader from Haridwar, Vinod Arya. Vinod has held a state minister's rank post as ex-chairman of the Uttarakhand Mati Kala Board. The BJP sought to distance itself from Vinod, with state party unit media in charge Manveer Chauhan stating that the former does not hold any post currently.Â
The teenager's parents approached a revenue police outpost on Monday morning to lodge a missing complaint after they did not find her in her room.Â
According to officials, Revenue police Sub-Inspector Vivek Kumar at Ganga Bhogpur Talla allegedly made the victim's parents wait for a couple of hours and even misbehaved with them. He was suspended for not registering a report immediately in the matter.Â
As soon as the case was transferred from the revenue police, Pulkit Arya, Bhaskar and Gupta were arrested and interrogated. Â
Pauri Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Shekhar Chandra Suyal said the trio confessed to the crime after initially trying to mislead the police. The confession came after they were interrogated sternly, he said, adding that they allegedly threw Ankita's body into the Cheela canal after killing her.
Claiming that the case had been cracked within 24 hours of being transferred to the state police, the ASP said a team was dispatched to trace the teenager's body from the canal. The body was fished out of the canal on Saturday morning, officials said.
Pulkit Arya's Resort demolished
The resort owned by the BJP leader's son Pulkit Arya was demolished on the state government's orders.Â
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami reportedly gave the demolition orders after the teenager's murder sparked protests.
The Chief Minister has also ordered officials to look into other resorts and take necessary action against establishments that are operating illegally.
With Agency Inputs
