The accused in the Ankita Bhandari murder case has moved the Court of Judicial Magistrate Kotdwar, Uttarkhand, requesting a 10-day extension to consent to the polygraph and Narco tests. The court will hear the plea on December 22.
P. Renuka Devi, who is in charge of the Special Investigation Team probing the murder case, said on Monday, “The main accused, Pulkit Arya, and the second accused, Saurabh, have given consent for the narco and polygraph tests; however, the third accused, Ankit, has asked for 10 days. His application will be heard in the court of Judicial Magistrate Kotdwar on December 22.”
She further added that the court set the date of December 22 since the three suspects must undergo their tests simultaneously.
Ankita, a 19-year-old receptionist who worked at a resort owned by Pulkit Arya, the expelled BJP lawmaker Vinod Arya’s son, was found dead in the Chilla canal near Rishikesh on September 24.
She was reported missing for at least six days before the authorities discovered her corpse.
Pulkit Arya was detained due to his purported involvement in the case.
The BJP government, led by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, swiftly expelled Vinod Arya in response to criticism from the opposition parties.
On November 29, the Uttarakhand Police stated that its Special Investigation Team (SIT) was probing the murder of Ankita Bhandari and had considered subjecting all three suspects to a narco-analysis test.
Earlier. Virender Singh Bhandari filed petitioned the Nainital High Court to order the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to look into the case.
Amid requests from the victim’s family to turn over the investigation to the CBI, the Gangster Act was invoked against the three defendants in the case, including the primary defendant, Arya.
