Dehradun: The Uttarakhand Police has 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 today.
DIG further said 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".
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Earlier, a 19-year-old 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 following an altercation. 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. (With agency inputs).
