Dehradun: After WhatsApp chats, a phone call recording has come to the fore to add another twist to the murder case of 19-year-old receptionist Ankita Bhandari. The call recording between Pulkit Arya, the main accused in the case, and Ankita's friend Pushp reveals that Pushp had asked Pulkit about Ankita's whereabouts, and the accused tried to mislead him during the telephonic conversation.
Pulkit told Pushp on call, "We left with Ankita in the evening and came back to the resort at 9 pm after visiting Rishikesh. Ankita also came with us and had dinner. But she was not found in her room the next morning, hence we started looking for her."
On the day of the incident, Ankita had told Pushp that she would call her at 8.30 pm but he did not receive one from her. When Pushp did not get a call from Ankita, he dialed Pulkit, Ankit, and Bhaskar to ask where Ankita was.
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While Pulkit was talking to Pushp, he attempted to mislead him, "Is Ankita with you? She was talking to you all the time, and she seems too upset after taking to up," Pulkit asked.
Replying to his query, Pushp said, "I am far away right now and it will take at least 13 hours to reach, how can Ankita come to me? Since she was with you, you guys should search for her, or else you all may land in trouble." While Pulkit also claimed they were all captured on CCTV while they were roaming in the market of Rishikesh.
According to the report, Ankita got the job at the resort through the help of Pushp, who is a resident of Jammu. Earlier, Pushp had shared an advertisement for a job as a receptionist at the resort with Ankita, who took up the job on August 28 this year.
During the probe, Pushp informed the police that before the murder, Ankita told him that the hotel owner Pulkit Arya and the manager have been forcing her to make sexual relations with several customers.
It was also revealed that Ankita had told Pushp that Pulkit Arya had sexually harassed her while he was in an inebriated state. Notably, Ankita wanted to leave the resort on September 18, and go back to her home.
The resort owner, Pulkit Arya, who also happens to be BJP leader Vinod Arya's son, its manager, and assistant manager were arrested on Friday and sent to 14-day judicial custody. The autopsy report of Ankita revealed that she died due to drowning and there were injuries on the body before death, suggestive of blunt force trauma.
