Uttarakhand: Court records key witness' statement in Ankita Bhandari murder case

Kotdwar (Uttarakhand) [India], April 5 : The Additional District Judge Pratibha Tiwari's court in Uttarakhand's Kotdwar on Wednesday recorded the statements of Abhinav Kashyap, the key witness in Ankita Bhandari murder case.

The main accused, Pulkit Arya, Sourav and Ankit were also present in the court during the proceedings.

Ankita Bhandari's advocate Ajay Kumar Pant said, "Abhinav Kashyap, termed as the main witness in the case by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), has also given the same statement in the court."

Notably, the SIT has made over 90 people as witnesses in the case. The statements of two other witnesses will be recorded in court on April 20.

Earlier on January 11, the First Class Judicial Magistrate Court Kotdwar, in Uttarakhand approved the narco and polygraph tests of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader's son Pulkit Arya, the main accused in Ankita Bhandari murder case.

In the case, consent was taken from Pulkit Arya on behalf of the Judicial Magistrate through video conferencing, after which the verdict was pronounced.

The case pertains to 19-year-old Ankita, whose body was recovered from the Chilla Canal in Rishikesh on September 24.

She was reported missing for at least six days before the officials found her body.

She worked as a receptionist at a resort run by Pulkit Arya, the son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya. Pulkit Arya was arrested for allegedly pushing her into the canal following an altercation. Two more people - Ankit Gupta and Saurabh Bhaskar, have also been arrested in the case.

On December 4, the Uttarakhand Police said that the investigation into the Ankita Bhandari murder case is almost complete. The only procedure that remains is the narco tests of the accused, for which they had sought permission from the Kotdwar court to conduct narco and polygraph tests of all three accused.

Earlier, the three accused, including expelled BJP leader's son Pulkit Arya refused to undergo narco and polygraph tests, citing that the SIT did not explain why it wanted to conduct narco and polygraph tests after filing the charge sheet.