The parents of Ankita Bhandari, the 19-year-old murdered in Uttarakhand in 2022, were detained on Wednesday during a protest near India Gate and released around 5 am on Thursday. Police cited the imposition of Section 163 BNSS in the New Delhi district as the basis for the detention.
The protest was against the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Sikkim Governor, announced on Monday. Ankita’s family and activists have repeatedly raised Gautam’s name in connection with allegations about an unidentified VIP who was allegedly linked to the crime. Gautam has denied the accusations and initiated defamation proceedings against those making them.
Several Congress leaders, including party media head Pawan Khera and social media head Supriya Shrinate, were also detained and later released. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi joined the parents during the sit-in at India Gate.
Ankita worked as a receptionist at Vanantra Resort in Rishikesh, where she was murdered on September 18, 2022. Her body was recovered from the Chilla canal four days later. Resort owner Pulkit Arya, son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, and two accomplices have been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. The CBI investigation into the case is ongoing.
The family’s demand is straightforward: put the Governor appointment on hold until the CBI probe is complete. That a murdered woman’s parents were detained under the same BNSS provision being used against anti-CEC protesters – while seeking accountability in an active investigation — underscores just how broadly that legal tool is now being applied in Delhi.
Source: Tribune India
