By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday recommended a CBI probe in the high-profile Ankita Bhandari murder case after her parents demanded investigations by the central agency to expose the identity of the alleged VIP.
“Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami respecting the request and sentiments of the parents of late Ankita Bhandari has approved the recommendation for a CBI investigation into the (murder) case,” an official statement said this evening.
A purported video and a letter written by the parents has also gone viral where Ankita’s father, Virendra Singh Bhandari, and mother, Soni Devi have demanded the CBI probe under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had stated earlier that he would accept the demand of the parents.
On Wednesday night, Ankita’s parents had met the Chief Minister.
In the letter, Ankita’s father stated that his daughter was murdered because of a “VIP,” whose identity is still unknown. The letter said, “I appeal to the government to conduct a CBI investigation to apprehend the VIP, and this investigation should be supervised by a Supreme Court judge.”
The Chief Minister said the government’s objective has always been to ensure justice in a fair and transparent manner from the very beginning and this commitment will continue in the future as well.
The Chief Minister said that Ankita’s parents have suffered the most in this murder case, having lost their daughter.
The demand for a CBI investigation into the Ankita murder case, which took place in 2022, has resurfaced after former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore’s alleged wife Urmila Sanawar recently revealed the involvement of a “VIP” in a video she posted on social media where she is being heard allegedly talking to Rathore on phone.
The 19-year-old Ankita, who worked as a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort in Pauri, was murdered by its owner, Pulkit Arya, along with two of his employees. All the three have been sentenced to life imprisonment in the case last year.
Meanwhile, Sanawar appeared before the SIT in Haridwar on Thursday and was grilled by the sleuths for nearly 4-6 hours. Later, Sanawar said she was firmly standing behind the family of Ankita Bhandari and that she was fighting to seek justice in the murder case. She also denied allegations that she was siding with either the ruling BJP or Congress. In a significant statement, Sanawar claimed that both Rathore and BJP leader Dushyant Gautam were close friends.