Uttarakhand: Three accused sent to jail in Ankita Bhandari murder case

Three arrested accused in Ankita Bhandari murder case produced before Kotdwar court were sent to police remand for 14 days. After the interrogation of the accused, they were shifted to the Pauri district jail.

Kotdwar (Uttarakhand):After producing the three accused before the Kotdwar court in the Ankita Bhandari murder case on Friday they were sent to the Pauri district jail. The accused were sent on judicial remand for 14 days. Owner of the Vanantra Resort Pulkit Arya, who is the prime accused in the murder case, the manager of the resort and a staffer, after their arrest were sent to Kotdwar Base Hospital for medical examination. Police also interrogated the three accused and later shifted them to the Pauri district jail, said police sources.

Earlier, the Uttarakhand police arrested three people, including Pulkit Arya, son of former minister and BJP leader Vinod Arya, in a murder case of a 19-year-old receptionist identified as Ankita Bhandari. The victim had been missing for the past five days from the Vanantra resort where she was employed as a receptionist, while the resort is owned by Pulkit Arya, the prime accused.

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The matter came to light when the family of the victim approached the police when they could not contact her. When the resort owner asked about her absence, he pretended to be oblivious to the matter and even went ahead to lodge a complaint under pretence. "The girl went missing five to six days ago. The area of the resort didn't come under a regular police station area. There's a patwari police system here, hence, and an FIR was registered under that," said Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar.