DEHRADUN: The public prosecutor in the case relating to the murder of Vantara resort receptionist Ankita Bhandari has recused himself from it. Ankita's family, who had threatened to set themselves on fire and stage a sit-in demanding the removal of the public prosecutor, have now postponed their protest.
"Ankita's family postponed their proposed sit-in protest on July 17 after the government lawyer withdrew from the case," Pauri District Magistrate Dr Ashish Chauhan told reporters. Ankita's family had on June 1 demanded that the district administration remove the government lawyer from the case.
Public prosecutor Jitendra Rawat has sent a letter to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressing his desire to withdraw from the case.
On Saturday, Chauhan met Ankita's mother Soni Devi and father Virendra Bhandari and told them that the government lawyer had decided to drop the case on his own. Soni Devi has also demanded that the government name the nursing college in Pauri after Ankita.
DM Dr Ashish Chauhan said, "We have sent the report to the office of the law secretary from where a decision on the appointment of a new lawyer will be taken."