Ankita Bhandari murder case: Uttarakhand CM Dhami meets victim's parents, assures them of strictest action

Pauri: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met Ankita Bhandari`s parents on Friday. The state chief also assured her parents of strict action against the culprits.

"Today, after reaching Dobh Srikot village of Pauri district, expressed condolences while meeting the family members of daughter Ankita. I assured them that by taking the strictest action against the culprits of this heinous crime, we will get the matter heard in the fast-track court," tweeted CM Dhami.

The murder case pertains to a young girl (Ankita Bhandari) whose body was recovered from the Chilla Canal in Rishikesh on September 24.

Earlier on Thursday, the rounds of taking the accused on police remand came to the fore.

"The process of taking the accused on police remand is going on. The process of collecting witnesses and evidence is going on, after that the process of remand will be done," said SIT in charge, DIG P Renuka Devi.

She also informed that the revenue officers were also being questioned.

"All revenue officers and employees are also being questioned. Because Vantara Resort is in the revenue area and Ankita`s missing case was registered in the revenue area, so this inquiry is being made," she added.

The top cop also informed that Bhandari`s postmortem was also recorded on video.

"A panel of doctors has done Ankita`s post-mortem at AIIMS Rishikesh, which has also been video graphed. If anyone wants to see the post-mortem process, they can see it with the permission of the court," she added.

She further informed that the people who were in contact with Ankita are being questioned by the SIT and said that women employees who had earlier worked at the resort were also being interrogated.

The SIT is also interrogating Patwari Vaibhav and seeking his car details, as he went on leave after receiving the news of Ankita`s disappearance.

19-year-old Ankita was missing for at least six days before the Uttarakhand administration recovered her body from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh on September 24.

Son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, Pulkit Arya was arrested in the case for allegedly pushing her into the canal following an altercation. Besides Pulkit Arya, two more people were arrested in the case.