Ankita Bhandari murder case: Son of BJP leader Vinod Arya and 2 others arrested in the case which escalated at Vantara Resort, locals demand the demolishing of the resort

Ankita Bhandari, who was a receptionist at Vanantra Resort in Rishikesh which sits near the Ganges river, went missing on September 19th. The police after registering the case launched an investigation after which Uttrakhand Police nabbed down 3 accused on Friday, including Pulkit Arya who is the son of former minister Vinod Arya and the brother of sitting vice-chairperson of Uttrakhand OBC Welfare Commission, Ankit Arya.

Ankita Bhandari, who was a native of Pauri Garhwal’s Srikot village, went missing from her workplace in a dubious manner on the 19th of September. The family of the victim after realising their daughter went missing approached the police to lodge a complaint. The revenue police were assigned to the case initially, however, the case was subsequently transferred to the regular police on 22nd September.

The police told the media that in their inquiry they had discovered that the accused had thrown Ankita into the Ganges after Ankita refused to oblige to sexual advances and also refused to perform extra services, which implied prostitution, for the guests at the resort.

Police have told the media that they have come across screenshots of such messages that clearly implied the pressure on the victim to perform sexual favors. The police were also able to draw a confession out of one of the three accused where the accused informed that Pulkit Arya, son of the BJP leader, took Ankita to Rishikesh and stopped at an isolated area.

The police added that Pulkit Arya consumed liquor at the stop point and then got into an argument over the refusal of sexual advances and favors that escalated into Ankita throwing Arya’s phone into the river Ganges, after which Arya got infuriated and pushed the victim into the river.

After pushing Ankita into the River, the accused fled the scene. Since the unfolding of Ankita’s murder unfolded, the locals have staged protests in front of the resort owned by Arya and have demanded the resort be bulldozed.

Delhi BJP leader, Kapil Mishra also tweeted about the incident where he wrote and urged the judiciary to give the accused to get a punishment that will make them rue everything they did, however, he took down his tweet subsequently after the case moved towards a BJP Leaders son was named.