Ankita Bhandari Murder: No VIP Involved, Claims Haridwar SP Amid CBI Probe Demands

Haridwar SP Suyal has denied VIP involvement in the Ankita Bhandari murder. He clarified that Dharmendra Kumar, identified as a friend mentioned in chats, is not a VIP.

Ankita Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at a resort in Uttarakhand's Pauri district, was allegedly murdered on September 18, 2022.

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Dehradun, Jan 4 (PTI) Amid demands for a CBI probe into the Ankita Bhandari murder case, Haridwar SP (Rural) Shekhar Suyal has asserted that no "VIP" was found involved during the investigation.

Suyal told reporters here on Saturday that the person whose name came up in the chats and during questioning, was a friend of Ankita, Dharmendra Kumar alias Pradhan, a resident of Noida. He was not a VIP, the officer said.

"During the investigation, police questioning revealed that he had come to the area for some work two days before Ankita's murder and had stopped at the Vanantra Resort for a short time to have a meal," he said.

Suyal said that this was confirmed by the resort's records and questioning of the staff.

Urmila Sanawar, who claims to be the wife of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, recently released videos and audio recordings of her alleged conversations with Rathore, alleging that the 'VIP' in the Bhandari murder case is a person named 'Gattu'.

In another video, she identified Gattu as a top BJP leader in Uttarakhand.

Rathore, who was expelled from the BJP, said that his voice was generated using AI, and the audios have been widely shared with the intention of tarnishing his political image.

The Uttarakhand government on Friday said it was ready for any investigation into the murder case "if credible evidence is presented".

Opposition leaders have demanded a CBI probe into the new allegations and the murder case, in which three people were sentenced to life imprisonment following an SIT investigation.

Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at a resort in Pauri district, was allegedly murdered on September 18, 2022. The state government had constituted an SIT to investigate the case.

The court sentenced Pulkit Arya, the owner of the resort and son of a BJP leader, and two others to life imprisonment in the case. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)