Ankita Bhandari Murder Case: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday expelled Vinod Arya and Ankit Arya , the father and brother of main accused Pulkit Arya, in connection with the murder case of a 19-year-old receptionist, Ankita Bhandari. They have been suspended from the party with immediate effect. This comes amid massive outrage over the murder of a 19-year-old girl in Rishikesh in which Vinod Arya’s other son Pulkit Arya is an arrested accused.
Pulkit Arya is the owner of the resort where Ankita Bhandari worked as a receptionist. Her body was recovered from Chilla canal in Hrishikesh this morning after she had been missing for five days.
Ankit Arya, the brother of main accused Pulkit Arya has also been relieved by the Uttarakhand government from the post of Deputy Chairman of the Uttarakhand Other Backward Classes Commission.
Vinod Arya, a party leader from Haridwar, has formerly served as a chairman of the Uttarakhand Mati Board with a state minister’s rank. Pulkit’s brother Ankit is the vice president of state OBC Commission.
Vinod Arya’s son Pulkit — who owns the resort in Pauri’s Yamkeshwar block — was arrested Friday along with two employees of the resort for killing the receptionist, who had been missing for the past few days. The three murder accused — Pulkit Arya, resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta — were sent to 14-day judicial custody by a court on Friday.
Meanwhile, locals set Vanatara resort, owned by Pulkit Arya, on fire.
WATCH | #AnkitaBhandari murder case: Locals set Vanatara resort in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand on fire.
The resort is owned by BJP leader Vinod Arya’s son Pulkit Arya. Three accused, including Pulkit, have been arrested in connection with the murder case. pic.twitter.com/7Zx0T6HJIB
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 24, 2022
The incident has triggered massive outrage with locals protesting outside the resort and demanding capital punishment for the culprits. On Friday, locals in Rishikesh gheraoed a police vehicle that was carrying the accused in the murder case and thrashed them.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday night ordered to raze down Vanatara Resort in Rishikesh, which is owned by the accused. He also ordered the formation of a Special Invetsigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter.