A teen receptionist's 2022 murder becomes political flashpoint: Revisiting the Ankita Bhandari case
Protests against 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari's murder rocked Uttarakhand and have now reached Delhi.
In September 2022, 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, a receptionist at a resort in Uttarakhand, was murdered. Her parents protested at India Gate in New Delhi against Dushyant Gautam's appointment as Sikkim governor, reigniting interest in the case. The accused, including resort owner Pulkit Arya, were convicted in March 2023 and sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2025.
Despite the convictions, the case continued to draw attention, with Ankita's father demanding a CBI investigation into the alleged involvement of a "VIP". In January 2026, Uttarakhand Police formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the audio recordings of a telephone conversation allegedly implicating a BJP leader. However, the police dismissed the recordings as AI-generated.
Ankita's father has written to Dhami, the chief minister, seeking a CBI probe under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge.
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