U’Khand CM Dhami seeks setting up of fast track court for speedy justice in Ankita Bhandari case

PTI, Sep 27, 2022, 2:59 PM IST

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Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has sought the establishment of a fast-track court for speedy justice in the Ankita Bhandari murder case.

”Our government has requested the honourable court to set up a fast-track court for speedy justice in the case so that the guilty are punished as soon as possible,” the Chief Minister’s Office quoted Dhami in a tweet on Monday.

Bhandari worked at a resort at Ganga Bhogpur in Pauri district owned by Pulkit Arya. She was killed by Arya and his two accomplices – resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta – for allegedly refusing to provide ”special services” to guests.

Her body was fished out from Chilla canal near Rishikesh. Dhami said the safety of ”daughters” was a responsibility of the state government and stern action had been taken over the past few days in connection with the incident.

”To ensure that daughter Ankita gets justice, the accused have been arrested and their illegal constructions demolished. We have also set up an Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the incident from all angles and have the guilty punished in the strictest possible way,” Dhami said. Pulkit Arya, the main accused, is the son of former minister Vinod Arya. Arya was expelled from the party after his son’s name cropped up in connection with the case.

The SIT, headed by Deputy Inspector General P Renuka Devi, has been camping in Lakshman Jhoola to collect evidence from the crime scene, the CMO said in the tweet.

The SIT has found the list of guests staying at the resort on the day of the crime. It also collected physical evidence. It is also examining the electronic evidence such as CCTV footage and mobile call records, it said. Witnesses and employees of the resort are also being interrogated. The SIT is also trying to take the accused on police remand.