Dehradun: Investigators probing the sensational murder of teenage receptionist Ankita Bhandari in Uttarakhand have said the Vanantra resort owned by accused Pulkit Arya, son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, had been illegally built by Arya in violation of norms. Arya, along with his two managers Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, has been arrested in the case.
SIT in-charge DIG P Renuka Devi said that Vanantra Resort was not registered under Uttarakhand Tourism Rules. The resort, she said, did not have a No Objection Certificate from the Fire and Emergency Department. Devi said that the SIT has written a letter to the authority concerned to take necessary action in this regard.
She further said that they have also written to the court for trial in the fast-track court. The 19-year-old, Ankita, was missing for at least six days before the Uttarakhand administration recovered her body from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh on September 24. The accused are said to have pushed Ankita into a canal after an altercation.
Also read: Uttarakhand cops add more charges against accused in Ankita murder case
Pulkit Arya had allegedly forced Ankita to do immoral acts in the resort. The Uttarakhand police have added new charges against the accused in the Ankita Bhandari murder case. The body of the deceased was recovered from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh on September 24. Based on the evidence collected and the recorded statements of the witnesses, the police have added Section 354 A (Assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 5 of the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act, DIG P Renuka Devi told the media on October 8.
The DIG further stated that they are interrogating everyone in the case and recording their statements. "The evidence has been collected and sent to the forensic lab while some other evidence is sent to the Chandigarh lab," DIG added mentioning that they have urged the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for giving the reports promptly as it is a "sensitive matter".
Earlier, Ankita went missing for at least six days before the Uttarakhand administration recovered her body from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh on September 24. The son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, Pulkit Arya was arrested in the case for allegedly pushing her into the canal after a heated argument.
Besides Pulkit Arya, two more people were arrested in the case. On October 3, it was revealed that the post-mortem report filed by the panel of doctors and the pieces of evidence collected by the SIT are matching. The main culprits of the Ankita murder case were brought back to the district jail Khadusain after three days of police remand on October 2 as the Kotdwar court had granted three-day remand to three accused of Ankita Bhandari's murder, including the main accused Pulkit Arya. The SIT is soon to file a charge sheet in court of about 500 pages.
