Vinod Arya, former BJP, father of Pulkit Arya main accused in Ankita Bhandari’s murder is booked for sodomization of his driver
Vinod Arya, former BJP leader and father of Pulkit Arya, the main accused in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, was reportedly charged with attempting to sodomize his driver on Tuesday. Earlier, following the rage over the murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami sacked Pulkit Arya’s father and brother from the party.
A case was registered against the former Uttarakhand leader at Haridwar’s Jawalapur police station on Tuesday night, on the basis of a complaint filed by his driver, as per the police.
The driver hails from the Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh and has accused Arya of touching him inappropriately and trying to sodomize him. Arya was also accused of beating the driver up and threatening to kill him if he disclosed the incident to anyone.
Vinod Arya’s son Pulkit is the main accused in the murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at his hotel in Uttarakhand.
What happened to Ankita Bhandari?
Nineteen-year-old Ankita Bhandari worked as a receptionist at the Vanantra resort in Pauri’s Yamkeshwar block owned by Haridwar Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinod Arya’s son Pulkit Arya. Pulkit and two other employees have been arrested in the case. She was allegedly killed for refusing to provide special services to guests.
Ankita Bhandari’s body was found in the Cheela canal near Rishikesh on September 24, six days after her parents found her missing from her room. Her post-mortem revealed ante-mortem injuries (injuries before death) on her body. However, the cause of death was drowning, the preliminary report said.
Protesters on September 25 blocked Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway and demanded a death sentence for the perpetrators of the heinous crime. Some women protesters also demanded that the accused be handed over to them so that they could be punished appropriately.
Ankita Bhandari’s autopsy report reveals death due to drowning; blunt force trauma on body. Following the uproar, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami sacked Pulkit Arya’s father and brother from the party.
Vinod Arya had previously served as chairperson of the Uttarakhand Mati Board (UMB) with a state minister’s rank. His other son Ankit, who was also working for the saffron party, has now been removed as vice president of the Uttarakhand OBC Commission.
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CM Dhami said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) is investigating the case from every angle, and evidence related to the case has been safeguarded. “I assure that there’s no attempt to erase the evidence. We’ll try to expedite the case in a fast-track court. We won’t spare culprits,” he said.
Ankita Bhandari was finally cremated amid tight security In Uttarakhand’s Srinagar