The parents of Ankita Bhandari were detained on Thursday during their sit-in protest at India Gate in Delhi against the appointment of former Uttarakhand BJP in-charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam as the Governor of Sikkim. They were released later.
The parents of the 19-year-old receptionist, who was murdered in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district in September 2022, have demanded that Gautam’s appointment be put on hold until the ongoing Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged VIP angle in the case is completed.
On Wednesday evening, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi met the parents near India Gate and joined them during their sit-in protest.
Ankita Bhandari's mother threatens hunger strike
Visuals shared by news agency ANI showed police taking Bhandari’s mother into custody. After being detained, she said she would begin a hunger strike at their home if the authorities did not allow them to protest.
"We want to state that we will remain steadfast until his (Dushyant Gautam) appointment is revoked... If we are not permitted to sit here, we will sit on a hunger strike in our own homes," she said.
{{/usCountry}}"We want to state that we will remain steadfast until his (Dushyant Gautam) appointment is revoked... If we are not permitted to sit here, we will sit on a hunger strike in our own homes," she said.
{{/usCountry}}Deep Dive
Why were Ankita Bhandari’s parents protesting at India Gate?
Why were Ankita Bhandari’s parents detained in Delhi?
What did Ankita Bhandari’s parents say they would do if they could not protest?
Her father said, “We give the government a 24-hour ultimatum: the appointment of Dushyant Kumar as the Governor of Sikkim must be cancelled. If it is not revoked, the people across the entire country will take to the streets, and the government will be held responsible.”
Activist Yogita Bhayana also joined the protest, where Ankita’s parents appealed to President Droupadi Murmu to intervene and ensure that all allegations related to the case were investigated.
Expressing support for the parents, Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of protecting a “VIP” accused in the case. In a post on X, he said the family had been waiting for justice for four years, alleging that the accused had instead received protection and a constitutional post. “I and the Congress Party stand with them — in their grief as well as in this fight for justice,” he said.
Congress, CJP slam action
Congress leaders Supriya Shrinate, Pawan Khera and Kazi Nizamuddin slammed the police action. They alleged that the authorities were targeting those seeking justice for Ankita Bhandari and opposing Gautam’s proposed appointment.
Shrinate, who was present at the protest site, said, “What kind of action is this? A heartless act against helpless parents who have been seeking justice for four years. Instead of granting them justice, the main accused is being appointed as a Governor, and on top of that, these parents are being treated with such cruelty.”
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder, Abhijeet Dipke, said that the detention of Bhandari's parents should “make us all ashamed”. He wrote on X, “Ankita Bhandari’s parents don’t deserve such inhuman treatment. Why is the govt treating its own citizens with such cruelty?”
Who was Ankita Bhandari?
Ankita Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort in Rishikesh, was murdered on September 18, 2022. Her body was found in the Chilla canal four days later.
Resort owner Pulkit Arya, the son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, and his two employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, were convicted in the case.
The family has called for a thorough investigation into the alleged involvement of a VIP in Ankita’s murder. Gautam has not been named as an accused in the cases related to the crime, and the allegations against him remain unproven.
Ankita's parents have accused Gautam of being responsible. He has denied the allegations.
Gautam served as the BJP's Uttarakhand in-charge from November 2020 to August 2026, during which the party won several elections in the state. He was appointed Governor of Sikkim on Monday.
The demand for a fresh probe into the alleged VIP angle gained momentum after actress Urmila Sanawar, who claims to be the wife of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, released an audio clip purportedly containing a phone conversation between them.
In the recording, Rathore allegedly referred to a BJP leader's involvement in the case. The clip sparked protests across Uttarakhand, with demonstrators demanding a CBI investigation into the alleged role of the unidentified VIP.
Following the protests, the Uttarakhand government ordered a CBI probe in January.
Gautam has denied any link to the murder and filed a case against Rathore, Sanawar, the Uttarakhand unit of the Congress, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and other unidentified individuals over allegations linking him to the case.
The Delhi high court has also directed the removal of social media posts linking Gautam to the murder, observing that the allegations appeared prima facie defamatory, HT reported earlier.