Ankita Bhandari murder: All accused refuse to undergo narco test; Court lists matter for January 3

The counsel appearing for the accused said in the Judicial Magistrate Court in Kotdwar, Uttarkhand that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) did not explain why it wanted to conduct narco and polygraph tests after filing the charge sheet.

After the disagreement by the accused, the Judge of Judicial Magistrate, Kotdwar Bhavna Pandey has fixed the date of January 3, 2023, for the next hearing.

Earlier on December 17, the Uttarkhand Police filed a charge sheet against the three persons accused in the murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari and submitted it before the Kotdwar Judicial Court.

"We are going to file a 500-page chargesheet within 90 days in this case. Around 100 people have been examined in the matter," Additional Director General (ADG) V Murugesan of Uttarakhand Police said in a joint press conference with the probe in-charge of the Special Investigation Team P Renuka Devi.

He further said that the chargesheet has been filed under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Unethical Business Prevention Act (IBPA).

"The chargesheet is being sent to the Hon'ble Court against the three accused under IPC section 302, 201, 120B, 354A, and 5(1)V of the Unethical Business Prevention Act. The Narco test and other points are being discussed in the said incident," he added.

On December 4, the Uttarakhand Police said that the investigation into the Ankita Bhandari murder case is almost complete with just the Narco tests of the accused remaining, for which they had sought permission from the Kotdwar court to conduct Narco and Polygraph tests of all three accused.

Of these three accused persons, earlier, two have given their consent for the test while the other one sent an application to the Court of Judicial Magistrate Kotdwar, Uttarkhand, which was later refused by all three accused during the hearing on Thursday.

"The main accused Pulkit Arya and the second accused Saurabh have given consent for the narco and polygraph tests, however, the third accused Ankit has asked for 10 days time. His application will be heard in the court of Judicial Magistrate Kotdwar on December 22," Deputy Inspector General (DIG) P Renuka Devi told ANI on December 5.

The body of 19-year-old Ankita, who worked as a receptionist at a resort run by Pulkit Arya, the son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, was recovered from Chilla canal in Rishikesh on September 24.

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

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. (ANI)