Kotdwar/Rishikesh: The advocate who applied for the bail of the accused in the Ankita murder case, has now refused to fight the case. Advocate Jitendra Rawat had filed a bail application in the court of Kotdwar Judicial Magistrate First Class Bhavna Pandey. Now, he said that considering the sensitivity of the matter, he had withdrawn the application for bail of the accused.
Lawyers said that it is very unfortunate to have such incidents in Devbhoomi and the culprits should get such punishment, which can become an example for the whole country.
Meanwhile, Bar Association Kotdwar President, Ajay Pant said that if any advocate comes from outside to defend the accused regarding the Ankita murder case, then the Bar Association will fully oppose it. He said, "Ankita was the daughter of all of us and as the matter is sensitive, I myself will plead in the court on behalf of Ankita."
At the same time, after the Ankita murder case, the crime scene has become a hotspot for YouTubers. YouTuber Mukul Bhardwaj, who came from Muzaffarnagar, explained about the resort in a video as the people were curious to know about the place. Suresh Aswal, who came from Kotdwar explained the story of the resort as it was built in a dense forest and he faced difficulties reaching there even using Google map.
Also read: Ankita Bhandari murder case: Patwari Vaibhav Pratap suspended for 'gross negligence'
YouTuber Gaurav Barthwal said that he has reached this resort for the second time after Ankita's murder case. After uploading the video here, people were constantly asking about it. This is the reason he has visited the place again and was making videos on YouTube and giving information to people about it.
Gaurav further said that the incidents of crime in Uttarakhand have started increasing, which is a matter of concern. He also requested the government to pay attention to it.
Meanwhile, the murder case of Ankita Bhandari is being investigated from all angles with total promptness so that her killers can be sent to the gallows as soon as possible, a high-ranked police official said here on Wednesday.
"A special investigation team (SIT) headed by a DIG-level officer is fast collecting the shreds of evidence on the basis of which we can plead for the hanging of the accused in the court of law," he said, requesting anonymity. Rubbishing allegations that the accused are being shielded by destroying evidence related to the case in the garb of demolishing parts of the resort, he said there has been no tampering with the evidence.
The SIT has also summoned a couple who had worked at the resort earlier and others for interrogation. Former employees of the resort have alleged that it had become a center of wrongful activities much before Bhandari's killing. The SIT has found the list of guests staying at the resort on the day of the incident. It has also collected physical evidence and examined electronic evidence such as CCTV footage and mobile call records.
The main accused, the owner of the Vanantara resort Pulkit Arya, is the son of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinod Arya, who was expelled by the party when his son's name cropped up in the case.
