Ankita Bhandari's parents stage protest at Rajghat, removed by police

Parents of Ankita Bhandari, who was murdered at a resort in Uttarakhand in 2022, were removed from Rajghat after they staged a dharna near the public gate of Mahatma Gandhi's memorial, sources said.

This comes a fortnight after Bhandari's parents were detained by police while protesting against the appointment of Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Sikkim governor near India Gate on October 14.

Bhandari's parents visited Rajghat on Wednesday to offer prayers and interact with the media. They later staged a dharna along with two others near the public gate, which is not a designated protest site, a police source said.

The group was repeatedly asked to disperse. After they refused to budge, they were removed from the spot. They were not detained, the source said.

During the incident, Bhandari's mother Soni Devi complained of health issues and was taken to the Burari government hospital for a medico-legal examination (MLC). However, both she and her husband declined medical examination, the source said.

AAP MLA from Burari Sanjeev Jha and his supporters reached the hospital and Bhandari's parents left with the legislator.

Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort in Rishikesh, was killed on September 18, 2022. Her body was recovered from the Chilla canal four days later.

Resort owner Pulkit Arya, son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, and his two accomplices were sentenced to life imprisonment in the case.

The case drew political attention over allegations that an unidentified VIP was linked to the crime. Bhandari's family and activists have called for an investigation into this angle.