DEHRADUN: The police have booked three suspects under the Gangster Act in the murder of Vantra Resort receptionist Ankita Bhandari in Rishikesh. The three suspects are Pulkit, Ankit and Saurabh, who are currently lodged in Pauri jail. Pulkit Arya, who is the main accused in the case, is son of former state minister Vinod Arya.
In another development, a fire broke out under mysterious circumstances at Pulkit candy factory next to Vantra on Sunday morning. The Laxmanjhula police station in-charge inspector Vinod Singh Gosain said, “The fire brigade received information in the morning from the PAC posted at Vantra Resort that a fire had broken out in the factory near the resort. The fire brigade vehicle immediately reached there and controlled the fire”.
Senior Superintendent of Police Shweta Chaubey said, “Along with slapping the Gangster Act on the accused of the murder case, their property will also be investigated. The police officer told this newspaper on Sunday, “The accused in Ankita’s murder were making money through immoral means and criminal acts in and around Vantra Resort in Ganga Bhogpur area of the district. They are responsible for disturbing public peace.”
The three accused, who threw receptionist Ankita Bhandari into a canal on September 18, were arrested on September 23. A probe by Special Investigation Team had revealed that Ankita had rejected offers to give “special services” to a “special guest” visiting the resort. The accused pushed Ankita into the barrage, killing her.
A month after Ankita’s murder, the mystery about the ‘VIP guest’ remains unsolved. Ankita mysteriously disappeared on September 18. The next day, the owner of Vantra and his friends had informed the Patwari (revenue) police, but the Patwari police failed to find Ankita.
Treating the case as suspicious, Director General of Police, Ashok Kumar handed over the case to Laxmanjhula police station. After the interrogation of the resort staff and evidence from CCTV footage, the police had arrested the three accused.