The investigation into the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case in Uttarakhand has ruled out ‘VIP’ involvement in the case. Refuting the allegations of VIP involvement, the Uttarakhand Police said that the person mentioned in the chats, Dharmendra Kumar alias Pradhan, was a friend of Ankita and not a VIP.
Speaking to the media on Saturday (3rd January), Haridwar SP (Rural) Shekhar Suyal said that the resort’s records, the questioning of the staff revealed that no VIP was involved in the incident. “During the investigation, police questioning revealed that he had come to the area for some work two days before Ankita’s murder and had stopped at the Vanantra Resort for a short time to have a meal,” SP Suyal said.
“…no VIP is involved in the Ankita Bhandari case. This fact has also been explicitly acknowledged by the Honourable Court. Furthermore, taking the viral audio recording of an alleged conversation between two individuals seriously, the police immediately formed an SIT (Special Investigation Team), which is conducting a detailed and impartial investigation into the matter,” read a statement by Uttarakhand Police. The statement clarified that a videography of the demolition of the resort was conducted at the time of the demolition and was produced before the court, along with all necessary evidence.
Responding to claims that evidence in the case had been tampered with, the police clarified that no evidence in this case had been destroyed or concealed. “No evidence in this case has been neither destroyed nor hidden. All essential evidence including videography of the room which was repeatedly spread confusion that was demolished with the purpose of erasing evidence, have been formally presented in all three courts,” the statement further said.
The police appealed to the media and the general public that if anyone has any additional evidence or information related to this case, they can provide it to the police.
Allegations of evidence tampering
A petition filed before the Uttarakhand High Court in October 2022 had accused BJP legislator Renu Bisht of destruction of evidence. The petitioner claimed that the demolition of Vanantra Resort, where Ankit worked as a receptionist, in the presence of BJP MLA Renu Bisht, resulted in the tampering of evidence.
Recently, a similar allegation was made by a woman named Urmila Sanawar, who claims to be the ex-wife of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore. Sanawar released video and audio recordings said to contain Rathore’s voice, alleging that the VIP involved in the Ankita Bhandari murder case is a person named ‘Gattu’. She claimed that Gattu was a top BJP leader in Uttarakhand. However, expelled BJP leader Rathore denied the allegations, saying that the voice in the audio recordings was AI-generated. He added that the audios were a conspiracy to tarnish his image.
What was the case?
Ankita Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at Vanantra Resort, located in the Ganga-Bhogpur area of the Pauri district, was reported missing on September 18, 2022, after which the police launched an investigation. Her dead body was found days later in the Chilla canal near Rishikesh.
It was revealed during the investigation that Ankita was murdered on September 18, 2022, after she refused to engage in prostitution. Three accused, including resort owner Pulkit Arya, son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, were arrested by the police. All the accused were found guilty of Ankita’s murder by the court and granted life imprisonment.
