- Monday, March 10, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which also is in power in the northern state of Uttarakhand, on Friday (23) expelled the kin of a man accused of murdering a 19-year-old woman. Vinod Arya and Ankit Arya, the father and brother of the accused Pulkit Arya, respectively, were members of the BJP with the father being a former minister.
The saffron party took the step after a massive outrage started over the death of Ankita Bhandri, who worked as a receptionist at a resort owned by Pulkit. The local administration had also bulldozed the resort and angry locals even put it on fire. They also vandalised the vehicle of Renu Bisht, a BJP member of the state legislative assembly. Police personnel reportedly evacuated her to safety.
#WATCH | Rishikesh, Uttarakhand: Locals protested against BJP MLA Renu Bisht & vandalised her car as they agitated over Ankita Bhandari murder case.The MLA was escorted away by Police
3 accused,incl BJP leader Vinod Arya's son Pulkit Arya, arrested in connection with the matter pic.twitter.com/RExf8pExAS
— ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2022
Pulkit was arrested over the murder of the receptionist at the resort which is located near Rishikesh in Pauri district of the Himalayan state. He had reported her to be missing on Monday (19), as did the victim’s family, but police said it later turned out that he was behind the murder along with two others, NDTV reported. The two others have also been arrested. They were sent to 14 days of judicial custody by a court, it was reported.
Civic authorities demolished the resort on Friday after state chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami gave orders.
Uttarakhand: Illegal construction at Vanantra resort demolished by bulldozer in Ganga Bhogpur Talla
Accused Pullkit Arya, son of BJP leader, is owner of resort. Accused Saurabh Bhaskar, Ankit Gupta are workers of resort.
Receptionist Ankita Bhandari was killed & thrown in canal pic.twitter.com/nObxRAwddC
— Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) September 23, 2022
The protest broke out after the body of Ankita was found near Chilla power house in Rishikesh on Saturday. Police said that the accused confessed that they had pushed the woman into a canal near the resort after a personal dispute and she drowned, India Today reported.
There were also allegations that the woman was forced into wrong activities but the cops said such claims were yet to be established.
Ankita Bhandari murder case | BJP expels Vinod Arya and Ankit Arya – the father and brother of main accused Pulkit Arya – from the party with immediate effect. pic.twitter.com/G8iQB5sS9J
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 24, 2022
“Prime facie, it appears that Ankita Bhandari was being asked to give special services to Ankit Arya [Pulkit Arya’s brother]. Whether there was a prostitution racket or it is a standalone case of Ankita being forced to offer services to Ankit is not clear yet,” director general of police Ashok Kumar told India Today, adding that no other girl was reported to be missing from the resort.
The family of Ankita alleged that she was molested by the prime accused and the audio of the incident was recorded.
The opposition Indian National Congress said the police took action slowly because of the accused links with the BJP and its ideological mentor, the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Dhami has asked the state’s district magistrates to investigate all resorts, Abhinav Kumar, special principal secretary to the CM, said.
He has also ordered to ensure that necessary action is taken against resorts that are functioning illegally.
[With agency inputs]
