The main culprit in the Ankita Bhandari case who has been convicted of the brutal murder of the 19 year old innocent girl on September 18 , alongwith with two other accomplices Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta has approached the Uttrakhand High Court challenging the life sentence awarded to him and two others by the Sessions Court Kotdwara, Garhwal on the ground that the conviction by the lower court was faulty/ defective as no direct witness was present in the court during the trial of this case in the lower court. It seems that the convicts want to lessen their sentence under this stance though the prosecution was strong enough to counter the arguments of Pulkit’s counsels.
The next case of the hearing has been fixed for November 18 seeking the entire records from the lower courts.
The most hyped case of Ankita’s murder in print and electronics media for several months with Uttarakhand High Court and finally supreme Court not recommending for CBI probe to find the actual VIP in the case, who is still a mystery has sent shock waves in entire Uttarakhand with massive protest demonstrations taking place everywhere in Uttarakhand’s various locations with alleged accusations on the ruling political dispensation not recommending for the impartial CBI probe to let the VIP be brought to justice.
The entire probe was committed by the state constituted SIT which did not touch the VIP issue the CRUX of the case , says the journalist turned activist and Vice president of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal Ashutosh Negi who spearheaded the entire movement from day one i.e. September 18, 2022 from lodging of the FIR to finally helping in granting life imprisonment to the culprits who happened to be from the saffron party. Not only this but the Vanantara resort rooms etc where Ankita stayed and evidence prevailed were demolished arbitrarily by the local MLA Renu Bisht.
It may be recalled that the Kotdwara, Garhwal sessions court had on May 30 , 2025 convicted and sentenced Pulkit Arya and two of his associates to life imprisonment on charges un section 302 IPC ( murder), 354 ( A) (Sexual harrassment ), and 201, destruction of evidence.
The prosecution side strongly represented the Ankita Bhandari case countering the points of the legal team of convicts Pulkit Arya and two others represented by counsels Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Subhash Upadhya saying that there are perfect and credible evidence with them like the mobile records of the main culprit Pulkit Arya, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta present on the crime spot at Cheela canal where she was thrown in it and from where her dead body was found after two three days, exhibiting her body injured including some of the teeths broken etc.
The forensic investigation has also confirmed about these convicts presence there.
Apart from all this , the Ankita Bhandari’s messages from the WhatsApp chats too were successfully retrieved to prove that she was being harrassed, victimized and threatened.
19 years old Ankita Bhandari who originally belonged to Dobh village, Srikot, in Pauri Garhwal district served in Vanantara resort , Yamkeshwar to provide financial support to her family.
She was allegedly forced into prostitution by pressuring her for extra service to a VIP who is still a mystery. On refusing to do so she was brutally murdered in the resort and the her dead body thrown in the Cheela canal by Pulkit Arya and two others in the month of September 2022. The father and brother of Pulkit Arya, the main culprit were holding the state minister ranks in BJP government in Uttarakhand and were expelled thereafter.
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