"Verdict sends a message that crime never pays off": Uttarakhand CM lauds conviction in Ankita Bhandari murder case
Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], May 31 (ANI): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday welcomed the conviction of the three accused in the high-profile Ankita Bhandari murder case, stating that the verdict sends a strong message that 'crime never pays off.' He reaffirmed the government's commitment to ensuring that no criminal is spared, regardless of status or influence.
'Today's verdict sends a message that crime never pays off... No matter who a criminal is in Uttarakhand, the law will not spare him/her,' Dhami said here.
Talking about the investigation into the murder case, the Chief Minister said that from day one, the state government resolved to bring justice to the victim and formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by a female IPS officer.
'The day we got information about this case, we resolved to bring justice to her (the victim)... The state government immediately directed the investigative agencies to arrest the accused, and so they were arrested. An SIT headed by a female IPS officer was formed, and an investigation was conducted in detail. The case was in court, and due to the investigation, the accused could not get bail. In about 3 years, they got life imprisonment,' he added.
On Friday, an Additional District and Sessions Judge Court in Kotdwar, Uttarakhand found Pulkit Arya and his associates, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and 354A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.
The court pronounced the verdict after a thorough trial, which upheld the charges against the trio, who were found guilty of the brutal murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari.
Bhandari, a resident of Pauri district, was employed at the Vanantra Resort in Rishikesh. It was alleged that the resort owner, Pulkit Arya, along with Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, murdered her by pushing her into a nearby barrage.
Earlier, while speaking to ANI, the victim's mother, Soni Devi, broke down in grief and urged the people of Uttarakhand to continue supporting the family and demanding capital punishment for the convicts.
'May the criminals be sentenced to death...I appeal to the public of Uttarakhand to keep on supporting us and come to the Kotdwar court to boost our morale,' she said.
The body of Ankita Bhandari was recovered from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh on September 24. She was reported missing for at least six days before the officials found her body. An SIT headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police P Renuka Devi was initially probing the case.
The first hearing of the case started on January 30, 2023, in the ADJ Court in Kotdwar. Following the SIT's investigation, a 500-page chargesheet was submitted to the court. Charges were then formally framed against the three accused.
In the hearing that lasted for about two years and eight months, 47 witnesses, including the investigator, were examined in the court on behalf of the prosecution. However, the SIT had made 97 witnesses in this case, out of which only 47 important witnesses were produced in the court. (ANI)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Fish thrown at govt official: Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane, others acquitted in 2017 case
A court in Maharashtra's Sindhudurg has acquitted BJP minister Nitesh Rane and 30 others in a 2017 case in which he was accused of throwing fish at a government official as well as abusing and threatening him. As per the prosecution, Rane and around 100 others, on July 6 that year entered the Malvan office of assistant commissioner in the fisheries department Pradeep Vast to discuss issues related to the sector, abused him and then threw mackerel, which hit the latter on the cheek. Rane and others also allegedly threatened to burn fishing boats. Rane and others were booked at the time under Indian Penal Code sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 341 (wrongful restraint), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 141 (unlawful assembly), 143 (being a member of an unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation). Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Rome: Quanto costano le case container? Guarda i prezzi! Case container | Ricerca annunci Scopri di più Undo In its order of May 21, details of which were made available on Sunday, the court of additional sessions judge (Sindhudurg) mentioned that Vast in his testimony did not state that Rane threw mackerel at him. As per his evidence, persons accompanying Rane threw fish at the official, the court said, adding the informant is not sure who caused him hurt in this manner. Live Events There is "no reliable evidence on record" to prove the accused obstructed the informant from discharging his official duties as public servant and caused hurt to him, the court said while observing that witnesses had not supported the prosecution's case with regards to other charges as well. Rane and others were arrested at the time after a video clip of the alleged incident was aired on local news channels. He was granted bail on the same day. Rane has been MLA from Kankavali in Sindhudurg district since 2014. He was inducted into the Devendra Fadnavis cabinet as a minister for the first time in December last year.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Minor girl gangraped, filmed, blackmailed in Karnataka's Belagavi; 2 arrested
A minor girl was allegedly gang-raped and the act was filmed by the accused to blackmail her at Kakati in Karnataka's Belagavi district, PTI news agency reported on Sunday, citing the police. The police said that two individuals have been apprehended in connection with this matter, and a search is underway for four additional suspects. The incident came to light after the minor lodged a police complaint. In her complaint, she said that perpetrators repeatedly raped and threatened her with the video of the initial assault. According to NDTV, the 15-year-old girl was lured to a hilly area on the outskirts of Belagavi six months ago by her friend, where she was gangraped by the accused, who also recorded the act. Also Read | Bangladesh national raped and killed, body found near Kalkere Lake in Karnataka The accused then used the video to blackmail the girl and gangraped her again. Eventually, the girl filed a police complaint and an FIR was registered against the accused. The accused have been booked under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, according to NDTV. In an unrelated incident, a 30-year-old badminton coach was arrested last month in Bengaluru for allegedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl during the training sessions. South east deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Sara Fathima said that a case was registered on Thursday under the Protection of children from sexual offences (Pocso) Act on the basis of a complaint filed by a woman stating that her daughter was raped multiple times. 'The girl, a student at a private school awaiting her exam results, was reportedly at her grandmother's residence when some nude photographs of her were sent to her grandmother's mobile phone from unknown numbers. Upon discovering the images, the grandmother informed the girl's parents. When questioned by her mother, the teenager disclosed the repeated assaults she allegedly endured at the hands of her coach,' she said, quoting the complaint.
Scroll.in
an hour ago
- Scroll.in
Delhi HC rejects plea by Lalu Prasad Yadav to stay trial proceedings in land-for-jobs scam case
The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav seeking to stay proceedings in a trial court in connection with a money-laundering case linked to the alleged land-for-jobs scam. Yadav had filed a petition in the High Court seeking to quash the first information report filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2022. In addition, he had also sought a stay on the proceedings in the matter in the trial court while the petition was pending. In an order issued on May 29, Justice Ravinder Dudeja said that he found no compelling reasons to stay the proceedings in the trial court. 'The present matter is stated to be listed before the learned special judge for arguments on charge,' the order said. 'Notwithstanding, the pendency of the present petition, petitioner would be at liberty to urge all his contentions before the learned trial court at the stage of consideration of charge.' Dudeja said that the trial proceedings would be 'an added opportunity' for Yadav to 'put forth his point and get the same adjudicated'. In an earlier submission, advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Yadav, had told the High Court that the CBI did not to obtain mandatory prosecution sanction under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Yadav before registering the FIR. This section stipulates that no investigation can be conducted by a police officer into an offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the Act without prior approval from an appropriate authority. Sibal also said that the offences that Yadav were accused of were allegedly committed between 2004 and 2009. However, the FIR was lodged only in 2022 after a delay of almost 14 years, he pointed out. Sibal also said that the matter was listed before the Rouse Avenue Courts on the framing of charges on June 2. He added that if the charges were framed, then the present petition would lose its purpose. Senior Public Prosecutor DP Singh, on the other hand, told the High Court that the question on the applicability of Section 17A was under consideration before a larger bench of the Supreme Court. Yadav could also make similar submissions before the trial court at the stage of the framing of charges, Singh added. The CBI has named 78 accused persons in the case, including 30 government officials. The case centres on allegations that between 2004 and 2009, when Yadav was the Union railway minister, land was illegally acquired at reduced prices in exchange for appointments to Group-D positions in the Indian Railways. The agency alleges that land parcels were transferred to Yadav's family members, including wife Rabri Devi and daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, at prices significantly below the market value.
