By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
A Kotdwar court on Friday sentenced main accused Pulkit Arya and two others to rigorous life imprisonment in the much-publicized Ankita Bhandari murder case which has continuously provoked outrage across Uttarakhand.
After the verdict, parents of Ankita Bhandari said they have decided to move the High Court for death penalty of the three convicts, a move supported by various social activists.
Pronouncing the verdict amid tight security arrangements, Kotdwar-based Additional District and Sessions Judge Reena Negi also imposed a fine of Rs 62,000-72000 on all the three accused in separate counts.
A large number of police force was deployed in Kotwar as a precautionary step.
On May 20, the court had 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 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 former 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.