Ankita Bhandari case: 3-day SIT remand ends, probe agency successfully finds motive behind crime

Pauri Garhwal (Uttarakhand) [India], October 2 (ANI): As the three-day Special Investigation Team (SIT) remand of the three accused in the Ankita Bhandari murder case ended today, the probe agency informed that they have been successful in finding the motive behind the crime.
The SIT has not revealed the motive so far but they have successfully cracked the case.
The SIT in charge Renuka Devi told ANI that the investigation in the Ankita murder case has progressed a lot and the statements of several witnesses have been recorded.
“We have conducted a thorough interrogation of the accused. We will further probe as we get more evidence. What is the motive of the incident and how the incident was happened has been inquired by our team. We have been successful in finding the motive behind the crime. We had taken a three-day remand of the accused. The three accused have been questioned a lot.”
She further said that the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) said that the SIT has got enough evidence.
“Patwari Vaibhav has not been arrested yet. Further action will be taken on the basis of evidence. The DIG said that the investigation so far has come a long way about what is the motive of the incident. Enough evidence has been found. If the remand of the accused is needed again, the remand will be taken,” Renuka Devi added.
Further, the main culprits of the Ankita murder case were brought back to the district jail Khadusain after three days of police remand.
The Jailor VP Singh of Pauri District Jail said that “The SIT team brought the accused back to Khadusen jail after interrogation at 5:00 am on Sunday. Keeping in mind the Covid -19 here, the three accused have been kept in separate barracks.”
The Kotdwar Court on September 30 granted three-day remand to the three accused, including the main accused Pulkit Arya.
On September 30, VP Singh, the Jailor of the Pauri district Jail told that the SIT will interrogate the murder accused by bringing the main witnesses of the murder face to face.
“The SIT will interrogate the accused in the Ankita murder case for the next 72 hours. For this, the accused have been taken from the district jail Pauri to some secret place. Considering the sensitivity of the incident, the accused have been taken to a secret place for interrogation by the SIT,” the Jailor said.
The murder case pertains to a young girl (Ankita Bhandari) whose body was recovered from the Chilla Canal in Rishikesh on September 24.
19-year-old Ankita was missing for at least six days before the Uttarakhand administration recovered her body from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh on September 24.
Son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, Pulkit Arya was arrested in the case for allegedly pushing her into the canal following an altercation. Besides Pulkit Arya, two more people were arrested in the case.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met Ankita Bhandari’s parents on September 30 and assured them of strict action against the culprits.
“Today, after reaching Dobh Srikot village of Pauri district, expressed condolences while meeting the family members of daughter Ankita. I assured them that by taking the strictest action against the culprits of this heinous crime, we would get the matter heard in the fast-track court,” tweeted CM Dhami. (ANI)