Monday, 17 October 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Uttarakhand police probing the Ankita Bhandari murder case is expected to conclude the probe after conducting investigation for about a month. Various developments have taken place in the probe during the past one month with the SIT currently working towards winding it up to file a chargesheet, possibly within two weeks. According to sources, the SIT is presently investigating the mobile Call Detail Record (CDR) of the main accused Pulkit Arya- the employer of the 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari who worked as a receptionist in his resort and his two accomplices, Ankit Gupta and Saurabh Bhaskar who were arrested as accused in her murder on September 23.
The authorities have reportedly started questioning people who were in contact with the accused the most through phone calls during the time period when the accused allegedly planned and committed the crime. The SIT has already recorded the statements of over 30 witnesses so far out of which, six have reportedly testified before the court too. The SIT also added charges of sexual harassment under section 354A of IPC and Section 5 under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act against the three accused last week. It is being said that as per preliminary forensic report, no sexual assault was allegedly committed on the deceased before her murder. However the officials of SIT refused to comment on speculation. They said that the SIT has received some reports from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and it will get some more very soon but they cannot make any comment before getting all the reports.
The SIT has also written to the authorities for trial in a fast track court to bring the culprits to justice soon. According to official sources, the investigation is going smoothly and they have made major progress in the case. They will soon wind up the probe and will file a chargesheet in the court, possibly in 10-12 days.
