People in Uttarakhand demand inquiry under Supreme Court judge

Dehradun: Political and social organisations in Uttarakhand on Sunday demanded a CBI inquiry under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge to expose the alleged ‘VIPs’ involved in the Ankita Bhandari murder case.

The Mahapanchayat, held outside the Parade Ground under the banner of the “Ankita Nyay Yatra”, was attended by Ankita’s father, Virendra Singh and mother, Soni Devi.

A warning was issued that if there is no progress in the CBI investigation based on their demands within the next 15 days, they will intensify the movement.

The resolutions unanimously passed at the Mahapanchayat demanded that the letter submitted by Ankita’s parents to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami be considered the official complaint for the CBI inquiry, that the investigation be done under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge, and that the FIR filed by environmentalist Anil Prakash Joshi in this regard be quashed.

Besides this, demands were also made that Chief Minister Dhami, who authorised the demolition of the Vanantra Resort after the murder, should step down from his post until the investigation is complete.

They also demanded that the BJP office-bearers Dushyant Kumar Gautam and Ajay Kumar come under the purview of the investigation.

Ankita’s father, Virendra Singh, alleged that he had demanded a CBI inquiry under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge in the letter he gave to the chief minister, but nothing was done.

Regarding Joshi, who filed the FIR to expose the alleged ‘VIPs’ in the murder case, Singh said that he doesn’t even know him and that Joshi did not contact him before or after filing the FIR.

Citing that public sentiment is greater than politics, Senior Congress leader and the former chief minister Harish Rawat, who came to support the Mahapanchayat, said that he has no hesitation in walking alongside or behind the social organisations in this fight for justice.

He said, “At this time, the public sentiment of Uttarakhand is that the person who did this to our daughter should be punished, no matter how powerful he is or how many powerful forces in the world are trying to protect him.”

Rawat said that Ankita sacrificed her life for the self-respect of Uttarakhand, but now the people of the state must continue the fight to get her justice.

Kamla Pant, head of the Uttarakhand Mahila Manch, said that this struggle will continue until the alleged ‘VIP’ involved in the Ankita murder case is exposed.

Indresh Maikhuri of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) demanded that the ‘VIP’ be exposed as soon as possible so that Ankita can get justice.

About 40 organisations participated in the Mahapanchayat, including social organisations and constituents of the ‘INDIA’ alliance.

A large number of people participated in the Mahapanchayat, carrying placards and posters with slogans like “Give justice to Ankita”, “Who is the VIP?”, and “Stop protecting Ankita’s murderers”.

In 2022, 19-year-old Ankita, who worked as a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort in Pauri district, was murdered by the resort owner Pulkit Arya along with his two employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta.

All three have been sentenced to life imprisonment by the sessions court.

However, recently, actress Urmila Sanawar, who identified herself as the wife of former MLA Suresh Rathore, released videos on social media and audio recordings of alleged conversations with Rathore, after which the case gained renewed attention.

In these videos, Sanawar alleged that a BJP leader, a so-called ‘VIP’ named ‘Gattu’, was involved in the Ankita murder case.