A local court in Kotdwar, Pauri Garhwal district, heard a petition seeking the permission of conducting polygraph & narco tests of the accused in the Ankita Bhandari murder case. After hearing the arguments of the prosecution and the defence, Judicial Magistrate Bhavna Pandey fixed January 5 as the next date of hearing.
Prosecution lawyer Ajay Pant argued that both narco and polygraph test should be conducted of the accused. While defence lawyer Amit Sajwan wanted the narco test or the polygraph test to be clarified of the accused.
Receptionist Bhandari who worked at Vanantara near Rishikesh was allegedly killed by owner Pulkit Arya accompanying the two accomplices.
The accused are in jail and a charge sheet has also been filed against them by the special investigation team (SIT) investigating the case. The accused had been sent to the court on behalf of the letter in which they had made a plea to be heard, their lawyer Sajwan said.
They had stated that a narco test should be conducted in order to determine who pushed Bhandari into the river. “What was the cause for it, and what kind of connection Ankita had with her friend Pushp, and why he left her & went on the day of the incident?” the letter stated. They also wanted to know if they’d be notified when a charge sheet was filed in the case. The court would most likely contact the accused via video conference Sajwan said.
The prosecution, on the other hand, claimed that the accused might be subjected to a narcotic test even if they were not ready for it. He referenced the terrific Aarushi murder case in Noida, in which the Talwar couple was subjected to a narco test despite their disagreement. Ankita’s parents were supposed to appear in court on Tuesday, but weren’t able to due to ibad weather, according to prosecution counsel Pant.
“They will go to the Supreme Court with the charge sheet if they do not get justice here,” he said.
