'Pulkit Arya was at the crime scene on the night of Ankita's murder', eye witness testifies

In the ongoing trial of Ankita Bhandari murder case, a witness has testified that he had seen Pulkit Arya, the son of a suspended leader from the BJP and the main accused of the murder of the female receptionist at his Uttarakhand resort, with a woman near the supposed scene of the crime on the night of the murder. Ashish Purohit, a forest department guard, identified Pulkit in court as the person riding a scooty he observed crossing the Pashulok Barrage checkpoint in Rishikesh with a woman on the pillion seat at 9 pm on September 18 last year. Pulkit, along with two resort employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, stands accused of assaulting and throwing the 19-year-old receptionist into the Chilla Canal from the barrage on September 18. All three are currently in jail custody. Purohit provided his testimony in front of Reena Negi, an additional district and sessions judge of Kotdwar in Pauri Garhwal district, last Friday. He stated that he was on duty at the checkpoint on the night of September 18 and witnessed Pulkit and the young lady, along with two men on a motorcycle following them. “All four individuals were permitted to proceed towards the barrage after stating that they were headed to their village, Kaudia,” Purohit later disclosed to reporters, reiterating his court testimony. Kaudia is situated 2 kilometers away from the barrage. Pulkit’s Vanantara Resort is located in Yamkeshwar, which is 20 kilometers from the barrage. Pushp Deep, a friend of the victim, has provided the police with several WhatsApp messages from her, including one sent a few hours before her demise, as confirmed by the officers. In the message, she alleges that Pulkit is exerting pressure on her to comply with a VIP guest’s demands and that she has decided to resign from her job. The police have verified that some former female employees of the resort have accused Pulkit of running a prostitution operation from there. On Sunday, the victim’s father, speaking to reporters in Pauri Garhwal, stated, “This is a protracted struggle. Only 17 out of the 97 witnesses have testified so far.” He accused Pulkit and his father, Vinod Arya, a suspended BJP leader, of employing “deceptive tactics.” “Pulkit claimed to be ‘unwell’ just before the guard’s identification in court. He was promptly taken to the hospital, where doctors found him to be in good health. Only then was he brought to the court. Vinod still wields influence within the BJP government,” he asserted. According to the woman’s family, Pulkit and Vinod used their influence to prevent any police investigation after her disappearance. The search eventually commenced on September 22 after a massive protest by her family and local residents, and the body was recovered from the canal the following day. The father contended that “police, state government officials, and certain politicians became active on September 23, visited the resort, and systematically erased all evidence.” “Sandhya Negi, a sub-inspector from the forensic mobile unit of the Uttarakhand police, informed the court on Friday that they searched my daughter’s room in the resort but did not find any pertinent fingerprints,” the father revealed. Previously, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had declined the girl’s parents’ request for a CBI inquiry.