By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
A Kotdwar court will pronounce its verdict in the Ankita Bhandari murder case on May 30 which had provoked outrage across Uttarakhand.
Kotdwar-based Additional District and Sessions Judge Reena Negi on Monday heard the final arguments between the defence and the prosecution. The hearing in the case lasted for more than two and a half years with 47 witnesses appearing in the court.
The 19-year-old Ankita, a receptionist at Vanantra Resort in Yamkeshwar of Pauri district, was allegedly murdered by resort owner Pulkit Arya along with his two employees – Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta on Sept 18, 2022.
The prosecution said after a heated argument with Ankita, Pulkit allegedly pushed her into the Cheela canal in Rishikesh. Bhaskar and Gupta had allegedly helped Pulkit in the murder case.
After Ankita’s body was found in the canal, the police arrested all three and sent them to jail.
Pulkit is the son of the then BJP leader Vinod Arya, who was expelled from the party as soon as the case came to light.
Immediately after the murder, a large number of people began protests in different areas of the state. Buckling under the pressure, the state government formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the murder.