New Delhi: Twenty-eight months and 12 days is how long it took for a court of law to convict all three accused in the Ankita Bhandari murder case. The 19-year-old resort receptionist’s murder in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district in 2022 triggered widespread outrage, protests, and a political fallout amid allegations that the resort owner, son of a since-expelled BJP leader, forced her to provide “special services” to guests.
On Friday, Additional District and Sessions Judge Court Kotdwar convicted all three accused—resort owner Pulkit Arya, who is the son of since-expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, Ankit Guptal, and Saurabh Bhaskar. Judge Reena Negi awarded them rigorous life imprisonment.
A total of 47 witnesses were examined during the course of the trial.
While the court found Arya found guilty of murder, sexual harassment, concealing evidence and under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, it convicted his resort staff Bhaskar and Gupta of murder, concealing evidence and under the Immoral Trafficking Act.
The victim’s family, however, expressed disappointment over the sentencing, saying they hoped for capital punishment. “I am not happy,” her father Virendra Singh Bhandari said, adding, “We wanted death for death, but the court has given life imprisonment.” The father also claimed the family continued to face pressure from the accused’s side. “They knew the resort contained crucial evidence, so they demolished it,” Bhandari told ThePrint.
Speaking to ThePrint, DIG (law and order) Dhirendra Gunjyal said Friday, “There were several speculations and rumours at that time. Some demanded a CBI probe alleging that the local police will favour the accused but this didn’t happen. A petition was also filed at the Uttarakhand High Court to transfer the case to the CBI but it was rejected.
“The case was led by an IPS officer and it was a fast paced investigation.”
On 22 December 2022, the 88th day of her disappearance, the police filed a 500-page chargesheet under IPC sections 302 (murder), 201 (disappearance of evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 354A (sexual harassment) and relevant sections of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.
Bhandari had joined Pulkit Arya’s Vanantra Resort in Pauri district’s Yamkeshwar as a receptionist in August 2022. She went missing on 18 September. Police had said she went missing after an argument between her and Arya, and the two other accused. Following the argument, it was alleged, the accused forcibly took Bhandari to the Chilla canal and pushed her into it. The accused then filed a missing persons complaint himself.
It was alleged that Arya forced Bhandari, a resident of Dobh-Srikot village in Pauri, to provide “special services” to guests. The three accused apprehended she would alert others to what they had asked of her.
After Bhandari went missing on 18 September 2022, Arya himself informed the patwari (the area falls under revenue police jurisdiction and not that of police). But no action was taken.
An FIR was registered on 20 September under IPC sections for kidnapping.
But as the family protested and the matter escalated, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by P. Renuka Devi, a DIG-rank IPS officer, took over on 22 September. Murder and criminal conspiracy sections were added to the FIR. That same day, the three men were taken into custody.
They subsequently confessed to the murder. The police also launched a search operation and Bhandari’s body was found at Chilla river barrage on 24 September, six days after she was reported missing.
DIG Gunjyal said the evidence presented during the trial included mobile locations of the accused at the time of the crime, corroborative evidence, witness statements, call data records, data records, audio and visual evidence, as well as conversations between the accused and other forensic evidence.
After the crime came to light, Arya’s resort was demolished by the BJP government, which sparked charges of destruction of important evidence. The BJP expelled Arya’s father following the former’s arrest. Vinod Arya had served as a junior minister in the Trivendra Singh Rawat-led BJP government.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: BJP leader’s son’s resort in Rishikesh where Ankita worked didn’t have govt approvals