Dehradun: Demanding stern action against the murderer of Ankita Bhandari, a 19-year-old woman receptionist, hundreds of protesters on Sunday took to the Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway and stage a blockade for hours.
Bhandari’s body was found in the Cheela canal close to Rishikesh on Saturday, six days after her parents found her missing from her room.
As the protesters sat on a dharna on the highway on Sunday, police tried to pacify them by bringing Ankita’s father Virendra Singh Bhandari to the spot to talk to them. The protesters, however, refused to budge.
They demanded the perpetrators of the crime be hanged immediately. A section of women at the dharna site also demanded that the accused be handed over to them so that they could be punished appropriately.
Ankita Bhandari worked at the Vanantara resort in Pauri district’s Yamkeshwar block owned by Haridwar BJP leader Vinod Arya’s son Pulkit Arya. Pulkit and two other employees have been arrested in the case.
Some of the protesters also said they would lift the blockade only after a written assurance from the administration of a compensation and a job to Bhandari’s family.
Additional Superintendent of Police Shekhar Chandra Suyal appealed to them to end the protest, saying all necessary action was being taken against the accused
