She was the daughter of a former safety guard and an Anganwadi employee. She had handed twelfth and was eager to go to school. But then, when her father give up the guard job, she determined to enroll as a receptionist at a resort late final month. However, she didn’t stay lengthy sufficient to even take her first wage.
This, in a nutshell, is the story of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, in line with her relations.
On Saturday, six days after she went lacking from a resort in Uttarakhand’s Laxman Jhula space, police recovered Ankita’s physique from a canal.
On Friday, the police arrested Pulkit Arya, the son of resort proprietor and former state minister Vinod Arya., and mentioned that he had allegedly confessed to pushing Ankita into the canal after an altercation. Resort supervisor Saurabh Bhaskar and one other particular person named Ankit have additionally been arrested.
Speaking to The Sunday Express, Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar mentioned that the police have now discovered proof that means that the accused had been allegedly pressurizing Ankita to supply “special services” to some company on the resort. – And when he resisted he was killed. ,
According to Ankita’s relations, she had attended the resort in Dobh Srikot village, about 130 km from her residence, on August 28. “Due to the financial condition of her family, she had to drop her education after Intermediate from Bhagat Ram School in Pauri, and started working. Ankita’s father Virendra Bhandari used to work as a private security guard at Chauras Dam, but left the job a few years back. The only earning member in the family was her mother Soni Bhandari, who works as an Anganwadi worker. His elder brother Sachin is studying in Delhi,” mentioned Leelavati, spouse of Virendra’s elder brother Rajendra Bhandari.
“The condition of the family was not very good and that is why he had to leave the village and shift to the resort after being offered a job. We are not sure how he was approached, but on August 28, a car picked him up from the resort. She was given a room in the resort and lived there. She was offered a salary of Rs 10,000 per month for the job of receptionist, but little did we know that they would kill her before she could get her first salary,” mentioned Leelavati.
“She was keen to review additional, and we had been upset when she had to surrender her schooling to look after the household. But we additionally thought that maybe she would have a future in what she was doing. However, it was only some weeks after she left. Later, her mom advised me that Ankita’s voice was now not the identical and it appeared that one thing was bothering her. At that point we did not assume a lot about it. Maybe, we should always have,” Leelavati mentioned, was crying and ready exterior the AIIMS-Rishikesh morgue to obtain her niece’s physique.
DGP Ashok Kumar mentioned that the police have recovered a WhatsApp chat between Ankita and a pal dwelling in Jammu. “In the messages, he clarified that they (accused) need him to supply ‘particular providers’… That pal and chat is the prime proof for us. Also, we have now to undergo the identical canal (shakti canal close to Chilla energy home). The physique was discovered from the place the accused confessed to pushing her,” the DGP mentioned.
In a WhatsApp chat, police sources mentioned, Ankita talked about that she was feeling unsafe on the resort and urged that an accused allegedly requested her to supply “special services” in change for Rs 10,000.
Meanwhile, a portion of the Vanantara Resort, owned by Pulkit, was termed “illegal construction” and demolished by the Pauri Garhwal district administration. The demolished half included the room the place Ankita was staying, the reception space and the entrance of the resort.
The transfer comes hours after Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami directed all district magistrates to inquire in regards to the resorts working beneath their jurisdiction and take essential motion in opposition to these illegally constructed or working.
Dhami additionally constituted a particular investigation staff headed by DIG P Renuka Devi to probe the homicide case.
At the identical time, the ruling BJP eliminated Pulkit’s father Vinod Arya and elder brother Ankit Arya from the social gathering. Ankit Arya has additionally been faraway from the submit of Deputy Chairman of Uttarakhand OBC Commission.
But the motion did nothing to quell native outrage over the homicide.
After Ankita’s physique was recovered and despatched for postmortem, indignant protesters torched a portion of an amla processing unit owned by Pulkit, which was situated behind the resort. Some protesters additionally attacked the automobile of native BJP MLA Renu Bisht. After the postmortem, Ankita’s physique was despatched to Srinagar in Pauri Garhwal district for cremation.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
