Ankita Bhandari murder: BJP expels former minister after son arrested in Uttarakhand
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New Delhi: BJP has expelled former minister Vinod Arya after his son Pulkit Arya was arrested for murdering a 19-year-old woman, Ankita Bhandari, in Uttarakhand. The victim was a receptionist at a resort and the locality has been seeing widespread outrage over the incident.
Pulkit Arya owns the resort near Rishikesh. He and the victim's family reported her missing on Monday. Her body was recovered from a canal today morning. The police investigation found that the teenager was murdered by Arya and two other staff members - resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta. They were also arrested yesterday. Locals surrounded the police vehicle and assaulted them before the police took them away.
Angry locals have set fire to parts of the resort and vandalised local BJP MLA Renu Bisht's car. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered that the resort be demolished and civic authorities executed the order overnight, reported NDTV.
Police are still investigating the motive behind the crime. There are allegations that the young woman was being forced into prostitution. Investigators have not confirmed it yet. The accused confessed that they pushed her into a canal near the resort after a personal dispute and she drowned, said the police.
Locals have also alleged that the police have not taken action because the accused's father belongs to the ruling BJP party and RSS. Vinod Arya was holding a state minister's rank without a post in the government.
Pulkit's brother Ankit Arya, also a BJP member, was also suspended from the party. He was relieved by the Uttarakhand government from the post of Deputy Chairman of the Uttarakhand Other Backward Classes Commission. Vinod Arya said the district administration should investigate the matter and if we are wrong, action should be taken accordingly.
Opposition Congress questioned why the police did not register an FIR sooner. The girl went missing on September 18 and the FIR was filed on September 21. Spokesperson Garima Mehra Dasauni said police were slow to take action because of Arya's links with RSS and BJP. "It is horrific. Till when will this brazen misuse of power by BJP and RSS leaders continue?"