Ankita Bhandari case: CBI probe to be completed in six months, action to be taken against those destroying evidence: Congress

The Congress has demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) complete the probe into the Ankita Bhandari murder case within six months and ensure that the culprits are brought to justice, adding that action should also be taken against those who bulldozed the resort to destroy evidence.

Mahila Congress President Alka Lamba and party spokesperson Vibhu Vohra alleged on Saturday that Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had tried to cover up the matter from the beginning. They claimed that despite public pressure, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed, but during the investigation, none of the VIPs whose names emerged were questioned.

They stated that the resort where the incident occurred belonged to a BJP minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed no interest in the matter, whereas he should have apologized for it. The Congress leaders said that Ankita Bhandari, a daughter of Uttarakhand, was working at the resort owned by BJP leader Vinod Arya. Within a month of her employment, on September 18 last year, she was pressured to provide "unethical services" to VIP guests, but she refused. Thereafter, Ankita was murdered and her body was thrown into a river.

Lamba and Vohra said that from September 19 to 22, only a missing person's report was filed, and on September 23, local BJP MLA Renu Bisht, on the directions of the Chief Minister, bulldozed the resort. The aim of this action was to destroy all evidence from the resort where Ankita was staying. On September 24, Ankita's body was recovered from the river, after which her parents refused to perform the last rites. As the matter escalated, BJP leader Vinod Arya's son Pulkit Arya, Saurabh Bhaskar, and Ankit Gupta were arrested. After the arrests, when the public took to the streets, the Chief Minister, under pressure, formed an SIT in October 2022. In this case, three accused were sentenced to life imprisonment, but it has not been revealed who the VIP was who pressured Ankita.

Lamba questioned Prime Minister Modi, asking if he could announce demonetization in a single day, why was it taking three years to deliver justice to Ankita. She also asked why the SIT did not question Ajay Kumar and Dushyant Kumar, whose names were repeatedly taken by Ankita's father. Lamba also questioned the bulldozing of the resort, asking why the local BJP MLA bulldozed the resort without a court order and why the SIT's investigation did not reveal the name of the VIP. She demanded an independent and unbiased probe into the VIP angle and action against those who ordered the bulldozing of the resort.

The Congress leaders demanded that the laws related to women's safety at workplaces be strictly implemented, accountability of those providing political patronage be fixed, and an independent investigative system be set up for such cases in the future. They said that in this matter, the CBI should complete the case within six months without any pressure and in an unbiased manner, and the BJP leaders should adopt an ethical approach and keep the culprits at bay, so that a fair trial can take place and Ankita Bhandari gets justice.