Concerns have been raised over the demolition of the Vanantra resort in Ganga Bhojpur, Rishikesh, which was demolished after the revelations involving the murder of a 19-year-old girl Ankita Bhandari. As per reports, the room of Ankita, which was sealed by police to save the forensic evidence, was the first to be demolished.
As per a report by Amar Ujala, Police are investigating the matter as to who ordered the demolition as it has come to light that the demolition drive, which was halted halfway, was not ordered by the district administration. As per the report, the bulldozer first demolished Ankita’s room and then went on to demolish the front part of the resort. However, it stopped after a while and returned from the spot the next morning.
Now, the police are investigating who was behind the demolition. The report stated that Ankita’s room now lays open and there are chances of evidence being tampered with. Locals claim that the destruction was carried out to erase the evidence. Tampering with evidence is a violation of the law. The administration, on the other hand, is looking into the incident. According to ASP Shekhar Suyal, action would be taken against the accused in accordance with the regulations following an inquiry by the administration.
It was reported that officials had begun the destruction of the resort a day after Pulkit Arya, the son of a former BJP leader, and two workers of a resort he owned were detained by Uttarakhand police on suspicion of killing 19-year-old receptionist Ankita Bhandari. However, it has now come to the fore that the demolition was not ordered by the administration.
Ankita Bhandari murder case
Three people were arrested by the Uttarakhand Police on Friday, September 23, in connection with the murder of Ankita Bhandari. The three people who were detained have been identified as resort manager Ankit, Saurabh, and Pulkit Arya, the son of former state politician Vinod Arya.
According to the reports, Ankita worked as a receptionist in the Yamkeshwar Vidhan Sabha’s Ganga Bhojpur resort named Vanantra resort which is owned by Pulkit Arya. She was reported missing five days before the arrests. However, the police launched an investigation after the girl’s family reported a missing case and feared murder. The culprits have informed police that Ankita was murdered after an argument as she was refusing the demand of the resort owner for sexual favours for himself and his guests in the resort.
The police interrogated the three accused who confirmed that Ankita Bhandari had been murdered. According to ASP Shekhar Suyal, the three accused murdered the girl and threw her in the Rishikesh Chila barrage. The dead body of the girl was recovered later.
