By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
The Ankita Bhandari controversy has taken a new turn after a top investigator said the SIT investigations have found no evidence of any VIP in the case suggesting BJP General Secretary Dushyant Gautam was not involved even as the protests were intensifying for a CBI probe in Uttarakhand.
Shekhar Suyal, SP Haridwar (Rural), who is part of the SIT investigations in the Ankita Bhandari case, said the so-called VIP, which was referred to by a key witness, turned out to be one Dharmendra Kumar alias Pradhan of Noida after thorough investigations. Pradhan’s name surfaced in the investigations on the evidence provided by Pushpdeep, a friend of Ankita Bhandari, who was murdered on September 18, 2022 near Vantara resort in Pauri district. Bhandari’s body was found in nearby Chila canal.
Pulkit Arya, the owner of Vantara resort along with his two employees have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a local court in the murder case last year. Arya was the son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya.
Suyal said the police investigations found that Pradhan, the suspicious VIP, came to Vantara resort and stayed for 2-3 hours on a business trip related to a land deal.
The fresh controversy in the Ankita Bhandari case arose from a recently viral video and an alleged audio conversation between former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore and his alleged wife Urmila Sanawar. In her video, Sanawar claimed that the alleged VIP in the Ankita murder case is a person named ‘Gattu’. In another video, Sanawar also revealed Gattu’s identity, which upset BJP leader Gautam, who had threatened to take legal action against all those who were dragging his name in the case.
While the Congress party is demanding a CBI inquiry into the entire matter under the supervision of a sitting or retired Supreme Court judge, the BJP has tried to distance itself from these allegations by portraying Sanawar as a woman allegedly involved in suspicious activities.
Meanwhile, Congress, left parties and UKD along with various social organizations are mounting pressure on the government to order CBI probe. They also organized a march to the Chief Minister’s residence on Sunday morning and reiterated the demand for CBI probe. The protests have been intensifying in the state during the past few days for CBI probe.
