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Receptionist murder case: Court to decide on narco test of accused on Jan 5
The police reached out to judicial magistrate first class Bhawna Pandey for the narco and polygraph tests on December 9 “to know about the VIP for whom the victim was pressurised to provide special services at the Anantara resort in Rishikesh.’’
A Kotdwar court in Pauri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand fixed January 5 to decide on whether to allow the special investigation team (SIT), investigating the case of 19-year-old receptionist, of Uttarakhand police to conduct “narco and polygraph” tests on all three accused, officials said.
Speaking to the media persons outside the court, Amit Sajwan, lawyer for all three accused, said, “The court has fixed the matter for order on January 5.”
Also Read: U’khand court hears plea for narco, polygraph tests of accused in Ankita Bhandari case
Additional director general (ADG), law and order, V Murugesan confirmed the development and said, “The court on January 5 will decide on our application whether to allow narco and polygraph tests on the accused.”
The police reached out to judicial magistrate first class Bhawna Pandey for the narco and polygraph tests on December 9 “to know about the VIP for whom the victim was pressurised to provide special services at the Anantara resort in Rishikesh.’’
Leaked WhatsApp chats of the victim woman with her friend suggested that she was being forced to provide “extra services” to a VIP who was willing to pay ₹10,000.
Though the SIT initially denied any such fact coming to light during the investigation, the clamour, including from opposition Congress, for the revelation of the alleged VIP link continued.
Sajwan said, “Opposing the police application, we have contended that if they have already submitted the chargesheet against the accused. For what purpose, do they want to conduct their narco and polygraph tests? It’s a type of interrogation.”
On December 12, during the first hearing, resort owner Pulkit Arya and co-accused Bhaskar gave their consent for the tests, while the third accused Ankit Gupta had sought 10 days to give consent.
Also Read: Ex-CM Harish Rawat steps up attack on BJP over Uttarakhand receptionist murder
Against that, on December 22, their lawyer moved a fresh application in the court to withdraw the consent given by the two accused from jail “since they didn’t get a chance to seek legal opinion earlier which is their right.’’
On December 19, the SIT of Uttarakhand police probing the receptionist murder case submitted the chargesheet against expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinod Arya’s son Pulkit Arya and two others in connection with the case.
“The 500-page charge sheet, which contains statements of 100 witnesses and 30 pieces of documentary evidence, was filed before the court of Kotdwar judicial magistrate first class Bhawna Pandey on Monday,” said additional director general of police (law and order) V Murugesan.
Since the key accused in the case is the son of a former leader of the ruling BJP, the opposition Congress has questioned the “fairness in the investigation”, asking “why police were not revealing the name of the VIP for whom the victim was being pressurised for sexual favours.”
The case pertains to the alleged murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at the Vanantara resort and was allegedly killed by three people, including Pulkit Arya and his two staff members, for refusing to provide “extra services” to a VIP guest.
Her body was found in the nearby canal on September 24, six days after the alleged murder took place following which the police arrested three people. All three accused are in jail.
