Ankita Bhandari murder: Three accused to undergo narco, polygraph tests on Jan 5

The First Class Judicial Magistrate Court in Kotdwar set January 5 as the date for the three defendants in the Ankita Bhandari murder case to undergo narco and polygraph tests.

After hearing both sides’ arguments, the Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Kotdwar set the date. The case involves Ankita, a 19-year-old woman whose corpse was discovered in Rishikesh’s Chilla canal on September 24.

She had been reported missing for at least six days before authorities discovered her death.

She worked as a receptionist at a resort owned by Pulkit Arya, the expelled BJP leader’s son. Pulkit Arya was detained after an incident for reportedly shoving her into the canal.

Two additional persons have been detained in the case: Ankit Gupta and Saurabh Bhaskar.

The Uttarakhand Police said on December 4 that the inquiry into the death of Ankita Bhandari was nearly completed. The only step that remains is the conduct of narco and polygraph tests on the accused, for which they had obtained authorization from the Kotdwar court.

Previously, the three accused, including expelled BJP leader’s son Pulkit Arya, declined to submit to narco and polygraph tests, alleging the SIT’s failure to explain why it wanted to perform the tests after submitting the charge sheet.