Ankita Bhandari case: Parents protesting at India Gate detained, Congress raises questions
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Congress leaders say that after the overnight protest, Delhi Police detained many people including Ankita Bhandari's parents at India Gate.
Congress has described the detention of Ankita's parents as a 'brutal cow action' against helpless parents. In the video of news agency ANI, it can be seen that the police is sending the opposition leaders and Ankita's parents to a bus.
Ankita's parents were protesting near India Gate. Their demand was that the appointment of Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Governor of Sikkim should be put on hold until the ongoing CBI investigation into the daughter's murder is completed.
Ankita Bhandari, who worked in a resort in Uttarakhand, was murdered in September 2022. Bhandari worked as a receptionist at Vananthara Tourist Resort located in Ganga-Bhogpur area of Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand.
After his name surfaced in this case, the then National General Secretary of BJP and Uttarakhand in-charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam had lodged an FIR rejecting the allegations against him.
According to the complaint lodged at Dalanwala police station in Dehradun, Dushyant Gautam had alleged that former MLA from Jwalapur, Haridwar, Suresh Rathore and actress Urmila Sanawar along with other unknown people had hatched a planned criminal conspiracy against him.
Dushyant Gautam was appointed the Governor of Sikkim by the Central Government on 12 October.
what did congress say
On Ankita's parents being detained, Congress leader Supriya Srinet said, "What kind of action is this? A brutal action taken against helpless parents who had been demanding justice for four years. Instead of giving them justice, they are making the main accused the Governor and then being cruel to the parents... coming like cowards and picking up the girls from here before 6:00 in the morning. What is the style of Delhi Police?"
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Ankita Bhandari's mother said that she will continue to protest until Dushyant Gautam's appointment is cancelled.
He said, "We will keep sitting like this. Even if we stay in our house. If we are not allowed to sit, then we will sit in hunger strike in our house. We, the government will have to cancel the appointment of Dushyant. If it is not canceled, then people will take to the streets all over India. The government will be responsible for this."
Earlier, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi met Ankita Bhandari's parents on Wednesday.
Three accused are serving sentence
The main accused Pulkit Arya, Ankit Gupta and Saurabh Bhaskar were convicted in the Ankita Bhandari murder case in May 2025 and are now serving life imprisonment in jail.
However, Shekhar Suyal, a senior police officer associated with the investigation of this case, has once again claimed that 'any VIP' had no role in this case.
After the Ankita murder case, the state government had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate. At that time Suyal was posted as Additional Superintendent of Police in Pauri and was also a member of the SIT.
After the Ankita murder case, the state government had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate. At that time Suyal was posted as Additional Superintendent of Police in Pauri and was also a member of the SIT.
Speaking to the media in January 2026, Suyal said, "Every person who booked or stayed at the resort between September 18 and 22, 2022, was investigated from every aspect, but no concrete information was found that any person was actually a 'VIP'.
Dushyant Gautam had tried to hatch a conspiracy
Amidst the ongoing agitation regarding the Ankita Bhandari murder case, on January 5, BJP's National General Secretary and Uttarakhand state in-charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam had lodged an FIR denying the allegations against him.
According to the complaint lodged at Dalanwala police station in Dehradun, Dushyant Gautam has alleged that former MLA from Jwalapur, Haridwar, Suresh Rathore and actress Urmila Sanawar along with other unknown people have hatched a well-planned criminal conspiracy against him.
In the petition, Dushyant Gautam has demanded from the court that the spread of objectionable content against him should be banned and "social media platforms should be directed to remove such content and such allegations should be permanently banned in future."
Dushyant Gautam has also said that his name has not appeared anywhere in the entire investigation, charge sheet and court proceedings of the Ankita Bhandari murder case.
He has also accused the Congress party in his FIR.
What did CM Pushkar Singh Dhami say?
There have been movements in Uttarakhand to punish the culprits in the Ankita Bhandari murder case.
In January this year, when there was a movement going on in the state regarding this matter, the CM of Uttarakhand
Pushkar Singh Dhami also said that not only the lower court, but also the Honorable High Court and the Supreme Court have expressed satisfaction over the investigation of the SIT constituted by the state government, which shows the impartiality and strength of the investigation.
