Dehradun: In a big development in the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case, the Additional District and Sessions Judge Court in Uttarakhand's Kotdwar on Friday sentenced all three accused to life imprisonment. Additional District and Sessions Judge Reena Negi pronounced the verdict.
The quantum of punishment was announced hours after Pulkit Arya, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta were convicted in the case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence), 120B (conspiracy), 354A and the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act.
Earlier in the day, the day, the accused were found guilty. Meanwhile, The victim's family was demanding capital punishment for Pulkit Arya and his associates. Speaking to ANI before the judgment, Bhandari's mother, Soni Devi, had said, "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."
Bhandari was a receptionist at Rishikesh's Vanantara resort, owned by Arya. Meanwhile, Bhaskar and Gupta worked at the resort located in Yamkeshwar of Pauri district.
Pulkit Arya is the son of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinod Arya. The case is dated back to September 2022. Bhandari's body was recovered from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh, six days after she went missing.
According to the prosecution, Bhandari and Arya had a dispute over something after which the trio pushed the woman into the Cheela canal in Rishikesh. Notably, Vinod Arya was expelled from the BJP after the case came to light.
