30 May,2025 02:36 PM IST | Kotdwar | mid-day online correspondent
The sentencing is yet to be scheduled, with the prosecution pushing for the maximum punishment. Representational pic
A court in Uttarakhand has convicted all the three accused in the high-profile Ankita Bhandari murder case, news agency ANI reported.
The Additional District and Sessions Judge Court Kotdwar found Pulkit Arya and his associates, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 354A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.
The verdict follows a thorough trial in the case. Bhandari, a 19-year-old receptionist at a resort in Rishikesh was brutally murdered in 2022, triggering widespread outrage across the Himalayan state.
The sentencing is yet to be scheduled, with the prosecution pushing for the maximum punishment, reported ANI.
Meanwhile, the victim's mother, Soni Devi, broke down while speaking to ANI, and urged the people of Uttarakhand to continue supporting the family and demanding capital punishment for the accused.
"May the criminals be sentenced to death...I appeal to the public of Uttarakhand to keep on supporting us and come to the Kotdwar court to boost our morale," she said.
The victim, a resident of the Pauri district, was employed in Vanantra Resort. Arya, who is the resort's owner, along with Bhaskar and Gupta, had murdered Bhandari by pushing her into the barrage.
Her was recovered from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh on September 24, 2022, six days after she was reported missing.
A special investigation team (SIT) headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police P Renuka Devi was initially probing the case.
The first hearing in the case began on January 30, 2023, in the Kotdwar Court.
Following the SIT probe, a 500-page charge sheet in the case was filed in the court by the prosecution. After the charges were framed against Arya, Bhaskar, and Gupta, the testimony of the prosecution started from March 28, 2023.
The SIT had made 97 witnesses in this case, of which only 47 important ones were produced in the court. In the hearing that lasted for about two years and eight months, the witnesses, including the investigator, were examined in the court on behalf of the prosecution.
(With ANI inputs)
