Ankita murder case: Opposition parties demand CBI probe as police rules out VIP angle

Dehradun, Jan 4: Opposition parties in Uttarakhand staged a protest and demanded a CBI probe into the Ankita Bhandari murder case on Sunday, a day after police said that no “VIP” was found involved in the case. Workers from the Congress, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, Mahila Manch, Left parties, and social organisations gathered at Parade Ground here and marched towards the Chief Minister’s residence, repeating their demand that the case be handed over to the CBI to reveal the name of the “VIP” involved in the murder case.
Indresh Maikhuri, the state secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) said that the statement that there was no ‘VIP’ involvement in the case, cannot be accepted. Maikhuri said that in its judgment delivered in May last year, the Additional District and Sessions Court of Kotdwar had sentenced Pulkit Arya, the owner of Vanantra Resort, and his two employees, Ankit Gupta and Saurabh Bhaskar, to life imprisonment for the murder. It was stated that the motive for the crime was the refusal to provide ‘special services’ to a ‘VIP’. (PTI)