The Uttarakhand Police, which is probing the horrific Ankita Bhandari murder, said on Monday that a forensic team had already collected evidence from accused Pulkit Arya's Vanatara resort in Rishikesh before illegal constructions at the site were demolished through bulldozer action.
"Even before the bulldozers started on Vanatara Resort, the forensic team had collected all the evidence present there, after examining the resort closely. All the evidence found there during the forensic investigation is safe and analysis of that evidence is underway," DIG P Renuka Devi, in charge of the SIT probing the Ankita Bhandari murder case, told ANI.
Protests in various parts of the state were reported after 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari was murdered. Expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya's son Pulkit Arya is an accused in the case. The body of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari was recovered on September 24 from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh.
The incident sparked massive outrage and angry locals had even set the resort afire. Before that, portions of the resort were bulldozed by the local authorities who claimed they were illegally constructed.
The incident of the resort being set ablaze and the earlier bulldozer action had also triggered fears that crucial evidence may have been destroyed.
Earlier, three persons, including Pulkit Arya, were arrested after they confessed to having pushed Ankita into the canal after an altercation.
The SIT had, on Sunday, also toldthat Bhandari's Whatsapp chats were also being probed. DIG PR Devi had said that Ankita's WhatsApp chats that have surfaced are also being probed.
Anger over the horrific crime poured onto streets in other parts of Uttarakhand as well as locals jammed the bus station in Pauri. Protestors also gheraoed District Magistrate's office in Pauri.
In the aftermath of the alleged murder, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami instructed the officials to ensure "better law and order" in the state and also to keep a close watch on the anti-social elements who are "disturbing the peaceful environment".
( With inputs from ANI )
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