RISHIKESH/DEHRADUN: A fire broke out on Sunday in an gooseberry candy factory located on the premises of a resort linked to the Ankita Bhandari murder case in Uttarakhand's Rishikesh.
The incident took place at 10 am in the Yamkeshwar area of Pauri district, officials said.
No casualties have been reported till now.
An official said prima facie the accident took place due to overheating of an inverter installed in the factory.
On the other hand, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Jot Singh Bisht termed the factory fire as another "conspiracy to destroy evidence" of the murder.
"A conspiracy was hatched to hide the evidence by first destroying Vanantra Resort, the site of Ankita's murder, with a bulldozer and today the factory located in it was set ablaze. The task of saving the accused was completed today," he alleged.
Ankita (19), who worked as a receptionist at the resort, was allegedly pushed to death by resort operator Pulkit Arya along with his two employees in the Chila canal near Rishikesh.
The three accused were immediately arrested.
Angry local people took to the streets after learning that Vinod Arya, the main accused's father, was associated with the ruling BJP, following which the government had constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the matter.
The BJP had also expelled Vinod Arya.