Ankita Bhandari, a resident of Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district, had joined Vanantra Resort in Yamkeshwar as a receptionist in August 2022. Less than a month into her job, she was dead.
The report of a missing 19-year-old receptionist at a remote Uttarakhand resort came in as just another entry in a local police station on September 18, 2022. Within days, however, the matter escalated far beyond a routine search for a young woman. The teenager’s body was pulled from a canal near Rishikesh, and three men, including the resort’s owner, were arrested.
What followed was a sequence of events that drew national attention, sparked political fallout, and exposed disturbing details about the accused and their circle of crime.
A Night In Yamkeshwar
Ankita Bhandari, a resident of Dobh-Srikot village in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district, had joined Vanantra Resort in Yamkeshwar as a receptionist in August 2022. Less than a month into her job, she was dead. According to the police, on the night of September 18 that year, an altercation occurred between Ankita and her employer, Pulkit Arya, the son of a senior BJP leader, along with his two staff members, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta.
Following a heated confrontation, Ankita was allegedly forced into a vehicle and later pushed into the fast-flowing Cheela canal, a man-made irrigation channel known for its dangerous currents.
Arya and his aides then returned to the resort, located around 10 km from Rishikesh, then filed a missing person complaint himself.
Loopholes And Delayed Action
The initial investigation into Ankita’s disappearance was marred by confusion. The Vanantra Resort is located in a semi-rural area outside the jurisdiction of regular police. Responsibility fell upon a revenue police officer or a “patwari”, whose authority and investigative capacity were limited.
The lapse delayed crucial early actions. It wasn’t until three days later, under public pressure and mounting suspicions from Ankita’s family and friends, that the case was transferred to the regular police. By then, public anger had grown.
State Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Kumar admitted the absence of immediate police action may have cost the investigation precious time. “The area where this resort, Vanantra, is located doesn’t fall under regular police. We have a system of patwari (land revenue official) registering FIRs in such areas. He did register a ‘missing person’ FIR, filed by the resort owner himself,” he said.
Friends Raise Alarm
Ankita’s disappearance first became known to her close friend Pushp, who recounted that she had called him on the night of September 18. According to their conversation, she had been pressured by resort management to provide what were euphemistically referred to as “special services” to guests, an allegation that later became central to the motive behind the murder.
That night, after 8:30 pm, Ankita’s phone became unreachable. Pushp attempted to contact Pulkit Arya directly. Arya responded that Ankita had retired to her room. The next morning, Arya’s phone, too, was switched off. Later, other staff members gave contradictory answers. The manager said Ankita was in the gym. The chef said he hadn’t seen her.
Sensing something was seriously wrong, Pushp and Ankita’s family contacted police again, this time urging them to treat it as a potential crime. When the police finally intervened, events moved quickly.
Body Recovered, Protests Begin
On September 24, six days after she was last seen, Ankita’s body was retrieved from the Cheela canal. The post-mortem, conducted at AIIMS Rishikesh, confirmed drowning as the cause of death. But it also revealed multiple injuries-blunt force trauma consistent with physical assault. Her viscera samples, tested for signs of sexual assault, returned negative results.
Public outrage boiled over. Locals attacked the police vehicle transporting the accused, breaking windows and attempting to pull them out. In Bhogpur, villagers vandalised the resort, accusing the administration of shielding the accused due to Arya’s political connections. Overnight, authorities bulldozed the resort, declaring it illegal.
Political Repercussions
Pulkit Arya’s father, Vinod Arya, was a senior member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttarakhand. Following the revelations, he was expelled from the party. Still, he publicly defended his son, referring to him as a “simple boy” who wouldn’t commit such a crime. “Seedha sadha balak hai (he is a simple boy). He is only concerned about his work. I want justice for both my son Pulkit and Ankita Bhandari, ” Mr Arya said, drawing sharp criticism.
Vinod Arya himself was later named in another case by his former driver, who accused him of physical assault and attempted sodomy.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced that the case would be tried in a fast-track court. The state government also appointed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by senior IPS officer Renuka Devi. A compensation of Rs 25 lakh was announced for Ankita’s family.
The Body, The Funeral, and Questions
Ankita’s mother later alleged that the family had been tricked into staying away from her funeral. In a video that surfaced weeks later, Ankita’s mother is seen inside a hospital, claiming she had been forcibly taken there under the pretext of being allowed to see her daughter’s body. She claimed she was given intravenous fluids against her will and not permitted to attend the cremation.
“They took my husband along forcibly, but didn’t take me. They brought me here from the forest where I live, saying I will see my daughter,” the mother could be heard complaining in the video.
“Doctors then put me in a wheelchair. I asked why was it needed but they took me to a hospital. They then forcibly put me on intravenous sugar solution and started recording a video,” she said.
She said four or five people had come to her and said they would take her to the cremation site. “I said I am her mother, I won’t do anything until I see her. I said I won’t budge until you show me my daughter. I wasn’t unwell at all. They tricked me into coming here. I was sitting at the civic body’s office. This is just for show, they have betrayed us,” she said.
Audio Clips
Perhaps the most damning evidence against Pulkit Arya came in the form of two audio recordings between him and Ankita’s close friend, Pushp. In the two audio clips, Arya can be heard attempting to manipulate Ankita’s friend Pushp, even suggesting she was “probably with him.”
In the first audio clip, Pushp can be heard asking Pulkit, “Last night, why did she [the victim] take your phone?” To that, Pulkit replied, “Her phone had run out of battery and there was no need for me to keep my phone for the night. So I gave it to her when she asked for it.”
Pushp then told Pulkit, “So, she did have a phone last night. Yet, it’s surprising that she never contacted me. In fact, I called her thrice, but her phone was switched off.”
The investigators later suspected that Arya had hoped Ankita’s body would never be found. If she remained missing indefinitely, he may have anticipated that suspicion would naturally fall on Pushp, with whom Ankita had communicated frequently. Her phone, investigators believed then, was deliberately disposed of, either dumped in the canal or destroyed to hide evidence.
