Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A pre-dawn police crackdown brought an overnight protest at India Gate demanding justice for Uttarakhand murder victim Ankita Bhandari to an abrupt end on Thursday, with Delhi Police detaining her parents, Congress leaders and other demonstrators around 4 am.
All those detained were later released, while the Congress accused police of manhandling protesters who had gathered to demand justice in the 2022 murder case. The police action came hours after Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met Ankita’s parents at the protest site on Wednesday.
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The protesters were demanding that Dushyant Kumar Gautam’s appointment as the Governor of Sikkim be put on hold until the CBI completed its ongoing investigation into Ankita’s murder.
Accompanied by CRPF personnel, police moved in on the protesters in the dark and took them away. Congress leaders Supriya Shrinate, Uday Bhanu Chib, Vinod Jakhar and Varun Chaudhary were also detained.
The sit-in was called by Ankita’s family and activists demanding a probe into the alleged involvement of an unidentified VIP in her murder. They have accused Dushyant Kumar Gautam of being linked to the case, with her parents claiming he was the VIP involved.
Ankita, 19, was working as a receptionist at Vanantra Resort in Rishikesh when she was killed on September 18, 2022, and her body was recovered from the Chilla canal four days later.
Resort owner Pulkit Arya, son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, and two staff members, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, were arrested and chargesheeted in the case before being sentenced to life imprisonment by Additional District Judge Reena Negi in Kotdwar on May 30, 2025, for murder, destruction of evidence and other offences.
CONGRESS SLAMS POLICE ACTION
However, Congress leaders Supriya Shrinate, Pawan Khera and Kazi Nizamuddin condemned the police action, alleging that the authorities were targeting those seeking justice for Ankita and opposing the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Sikkim Governor.
“This is brutality. You can see democracy coming to an end at India Gate. It is ending at 4 am,” Khera said.
He questioned the circumstances in which the protesters were detained, alleging that the person facing accusations in connection with the case could be appointed to a constitutional post while Ankita’s parents were being taken away by the police.
“The one who has been accused will become the governor, and Ankita’s parents will go to jail? We are protesting against rapists, so we will go to jail, and the one who has been accused of rape will become the governor—this is democracy,” Khera said.
Shrinate also criticised the detentions, describing the police action as harsh treatment of parents who had been seeking justice for four years. She questioned why women protesters were being detained before 6 am instead of the authorities addressing the family’s demands.
Nizamuddin, the Congress’s Delhi in-charge, alleged that the police should have acted against Gautam instead of detaining the protesters.
He said the family had been holding a peaceful sit-in and that the police arrived late at night and took away the protesters, including women leaders. Nizamuddin said the Congress would continue its campaign until the family received justice and reiterated its demand that Gautam be arrested.
The protesters have demanded that Gautam’s appointment as Sikkim Governor be put on hold pending an investigation into the alleged VIP angle in Ankita’s murder.
Earlier on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met Ankita’s parents at India Gate and expressed support for their demand for justice.
Ankita’s father, Virendra Singh Bhandari, urged President Droupadi Murmu not to proceed with Gautam’s appointment until the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry was concluded. He said Gautam should be held accountable and demanded that the investigation be completed before the appointment.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
