By Our Staff Reporter
Nainital, 3 Nov: The Uttarakhand High Court today heard a petition seeking a CBI inquiry into the murder of Ankita Bhandari in the Chilla area of Rishikesh. It may be recalled that Ankita Bhandari who was working as a receptionist at Vanantara Resort owned by Pulkit Arya, had been murdered by Arya and his friends. The case is presently being investigated by SIT headed by IPS Officer P Renuka. However, there has been a demand from a section of the society for a CBI inquiry into the murder. It may further be recalled that in a mysterious manner, a bulldozer had been used to demolish part of the building soon after the SIT had taken over the investigation.
It has been alleged by the Opposition leaders that a bulldozer was used in a clandestine manner at the resort with the purpose of destroying evidence.
In the hearing held today, the High Court asked the SIT to tell in writing that what evidence had been collected from the place where the bulldozer was used in the resort. The court has directed the SIT to file its reply by 11 November.
The matter was heard before a single bench of Senior Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra. Ashutosh Negi, a resident of Pauri Garhwal, had filed a petition in the High Court claiming that the police and the SIT were hiding important evidence in this case.
The petition further claims that Ankita Bhandari was not being treated well by her employers and was subjected to continuous misconduct. As per the claims, the SIT has not yet made public the post mortem report of the receptionist. Ankita’s room was ransacked in the evening the day her body was found. When the post-mortem of the body of the receptionist was done, the police had allegedly got it done without the presence of any female doctor, which was against the order of the Supreme Court, it was alleged in the court. The petitioner has claimed that the Police was involved in a cover up operation instead of gathering evidence to nail the culprits and has demanded a CBI inquiry into the case.
