The body of Ankita Bhandari, 19, was retrieved from Chilla Barrage by police on Saturday morning, a day after three people were arrested, one of whom was the son of a top BJP leader, on suspicion of murdering her.
The Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force’s deep dive squad retrieved the body from the barrage (SDRF). On the evening of September 18th, the day Ankita vanished, the resort owner Pulkit Arya, the son of BJP ex-minister Vinod Arya, told police that he had killed Ankita by pushing her into the barrage from a cliff. This prompted a search to be conducted. Early Saturday morning, the search operation picked back up where it had left off.
SDRF rescue team recovers #AnkitaBhandari 's body from Chilla range in Rishikesh pic.twitter.com/4ap6qt0Ouu
— TOI Cities (@TOICitiesNews) September 24, 2022
SDRF spokesperson Lalita Negi said: “SDRF’s deep diving crew had begun the search operation at midday on Friday after Arya’s arrest, based on the information provided by Arya in his confession, but had so far come up empty. They picked up the hunt again on Saturday and spotted it in the barrage at about 7 a.m.”
“Soon after the retrieval of the body, family members of Ankita were summoned for identification, and they recognized it,” Negi said.
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Images from Vanatara resort in Rishikesh that was owned by BJP leader Vinod Arya's son Pulkit Arya who allegedly murdered #AnkitaBhandari . (ANI) pic.twitter.com/vRkY7VnYqL
— TOI Cities (@TOICitiesNews) September 24, 2022
On Saturday, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami, confirmed the new development by saying, “An SIT under DIG P Renuka Devi has been created to explore the whole affair.”
“All those implicated in this horrific crime would face the worst penalties. The three suspects have been apprehended, and we will see to it that Ankita is vindicated “the Dhami put in.
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#Rishikesh : The resort owned by Pulkit Arya who allegedly murdered #AnkitaBhandari is being demolished.
(Earlier visual) pic.twitter.com/OAS2Tgoh5P
— TOI Cities (@TOICitiesNews) September 24, 2022
On Friday night, the authorities brought a bulldozer to the resort where Ankita had worked as a receptionist before her murder by Arya and two other resort employees who had refused to engage in prostitution with resort customers.
The government also took action against the local patwari and revenue police inspector, who allegedly waited three days before filing a missing person’s report after hearing about the girl.
