Ankita Bhandari murder case: Uttarakhand court sentences ex-BJP minister’s son Pulkit Arya, 2 aides to life term

Kotdwar: A local court in Uttarakhand on Friday convicted Pulkit Arya, the owner of Vanantra Resort, and his two associates and sentenced them to life imprisonment in connection with the high-profile Ankita murder case.

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Reena Negi held Pulkit Arya, Saurabh Bhaskar, and Ankit Gupta guilty under sections 302, 201, and 354 of the Indian Penal Code. Pulkit Arya is the son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya.

“All three accused have been sentenced to life imprisonment. They have been convicted under Section 302, sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000. On the appeal of the prosecution, a fine of Rs 4 lakh was ordered to be paid to the victim's parents as compensation. The full judgment is yet to come. We had presented forty-seven witnesses,” Ankita's lawyer Avnish Negi said.

Ankita was working as a receptionist at Vanantra Resort near Rishikesh when she went missing on September 18, 2022. Her body was recovered from the Chilla barrage two days later. The case sparked widespread outrage, and the state government handed over the case to a Special Investigation Team (SIT).

(Inputs from UNI)