JOIN USResort razed to destroy evidences, alleges Ankita's family as autopsy reveals injuries to body
The family members of Ankita Bhandari, who was killed by expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya's son Pulkit and whose body was later fished out from a canal near Rishikesh town in Uttarakhand, on Sunday said that the resort where Ankita worked had been demolished by the government to 'destroy' evidence' even as the victim's postmortem examination revealed injury marks on her body.
As large-scale protests against the killing of 19-year-old Ankita, who worked as a receptionist at a resort owned by Pulkit, continued in different parts of Uttarakhand on Sunday with the people blocking roads at various places, Pulkit's father and now expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya claimed that his son was 'innocent'.
Ankita's chat with her friends on social networking sites, which became viral on Saturday, revealed that she was 'scared' and felt 'insecure' at the resort as Pulkit pressured her to provide "special service" to the VIP guests lest she should be sacked. "I feel insecure, it's a horrible place, they ask me to provide special service to the VIP guests. I will not work here," Ankita said in a chat with a friend of hers.
"Why was the resort demolished even before the investigation was complete? What was the hurry? We suspect that it was done to destroy evidence. Even the room in which Ankita lived and which was sealed by the police was also demolished," said a member of Ankita's family. The district administration in Pauri demolished the 'Vanantara' resort on Saturday.
The autopsy report of Ankita revealed injury marks on her body inflicted by a "blunt object" though the cause of death was drowning, according to the sources.
Large-scale protests against the killing continued in different parts of Uttarakhand on Sunday also with the people blocking roads in several places. The markets were also closed in Srinagar, the district headquarter of Pauri district in protest against the incident. The people also blocked traffic on the Badrinath-Rishikesh road.
Pulkit's father, however, claimed that his son was 'innocent'. "Woh to seedha sada ladka hai. Ye kaam kar hi nahin sakta" (He is a simple boy. He can not do anything like this), Arya said on Sunday.
Ankita was killed by Pulkit and two other employees of the resort on the evening of Sept 18 after she refused to have sex with guests as demanded by the owner. Pulkit, the manager of the resort, Sourabh Bhaskar, and Ankit Gupta, an employee at the resort, were arrested by the police on Friday.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe killing.