The police took into custody the parents of Ankita Bhandari, who were sitting on a dharna at India Gate demanding justice for their daughter, in the early hours of Thursday.
Ankita Bhandari's parents say that the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as the Governor of Sikkim should be put on hold until the CBI investigation is completed.
Earlier, while talking to BBC News Hindi, Ankit Bhandari's father Virendra Bhandari had put forward five demands.
After this incident, Ankit Bhandari murder case of Uttarakhand is once again in discussion. Let us know who was Ankita Bhandari and why questions are being raised against BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam regarding her murder.
1. Who was Ankita Bhandari?
Ankita Bhandari, a resident of Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, used to work as a receptionist at Vantra Resort, located between Laxman Jhula police station area and Chilla in Rishikesh.
Ankita was reported missing on 18 September 2022. Ankita's body was recovered from Chilla Canal in the morning of 24th.
Resort owner Pulkit Arya, manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta were arrested.
All three confessed to pushing him into the canal and were convicted in May 2025.
After this matter came to light, there were widespread protests in Uttarakhand. The case also became politically controversial because one of the three convicts, Pulkit Arya, is the son of then BJP leader Vinod Arya.
Vinod Arya was expelled from the party after the case of Ankita's murder came to light.
2. Who are the ones to be punished in the case?
According to the police, 19-year-old Ankita was murdered by Pulkit Arya, son of resort operator and BJP leader and former Minister of State Vinod Arya, resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and another employee Ankit.
Pulkit's brother Ankit was also the vice-chairman of the Other Backward Classes Commission in Uttarakhand, who was removed from the post after this matter came to light.
Police said that Ankita was being forced to commit 'immoral acts' and when Ankita threatened to tell others about it, she was murdered.
The main accused Pulkit Arya, Ankit Gupta and Saurabh Bhaskar were convicted in this murder case in May 2025 and are now serving life imprisonment in jail.
3. What is VIP angle?
The Hindu has cited a report by its sister publication Frontline, which mentions the presence of a 'VIP' to whom Ankita was allegedly being forced to provide 'special services'.
The report quoted the then DIG P. Renuka Devi as saying that the resort had a 'Presidential Suite' for VIP guests.
According to a report in The Hindu in January 2026, former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore's colleague actress Urmila Sanawar had alleged that the 'VIP' in this case was a senior BJP leader.
Frontline's report also said that the conversations on WhatsApp confirmed that Pulkit Arya was pressurizing Ankita into prostitution.
4. Why is Dushyant Gautam's name in discussion?
Ankita Bhandari's parents say that the real people responsible for their daughter's murder are being saved.
Ankita Bhandari's family and social workers have repeatedly raised the name of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as an alleged VIP in this case.
Gautam has denied these allegations and initiated defamation proceedings against the accusers. Gautam, former national general secretary of BJP, has also been in-charge of the party in Uttarakhand.
On 12 October, he was appointed the Governor of Sikkim.
Ankita Bhandari's parents are demanding that her appointment as Governor of Sikkim be put on hold until the investigation into the alleged 'VIP guest' is completed.
Congress has claimed that he has been appointed to save Gautam.
The party argues that criminal action cannot be taken against a person while holding the post of Governor.
5. Dushyant Gautam alleged which conspiracy?
Gautam has denied these allegations and has initiated defamation proceedings against the accusers. Gautam has also 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.
6. What do Ankita's parents want?
Ankita Bhandari's father Virendra Bhandari, in a special conversation with BBC News Hindi, had expressed deep sorrow and disappointment over the decision of appointment of Dushyant Gautam.
He had told that after hearing the news of this decision, his entire family could not sleep the whole night and remained extremely distressed.
In a conversation with BBC News Hindi associate journalist Asif Ali, Ankita's father had put forward five major demands -
1. The entire investigation of CBI in Ankita case should be conducted under the direct supervision of a sitting or retired judge of the Supreme Court.
2. Yamkeshwar MLA Renu Bisht should be interrogated and the call details of her phone during the incident, on 22nd to 23rd September, should be checked. Also, it should be found out who had ordered the demolition of Vananthara Resort.
3. Formal statements of Urmila Sanawar and her husband should be recorded in the case and narco test of Suresh Rathore should be conducted.
4. Between September 18 and September 24, 2022, the location and complete call details of the phones of Ajay Kumar and Dushyant Kumar Gautam should be investigated.
5. The call details of accused Pulkit Arya's phone on 18th and 19th September should be carefully examined so that it can be known with whom he was in contact.
7. What did the officer involved in the investigation say?
Shekhar Suyal, a senior police officer involved in the investigation of this case, had said that there was no role of 'any VIP' in this case.
After the Ankita Bhandari 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.
He had told the media, "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'."
8. What did CM Dhami say on the investigation?
There have been agitations at many places in Uttarakhand demanding a CBI investigation into this matter.
However, the Uttarakhand government had said that providing justice to the state's daughter Ankita has been the top priority of the state government and in this direction the government has worked with complete seriousness, sensitivity and transparency.
