Uttarakhand Police on Saturday filed an FIR to identify alleged 'VIPs' in connection with the Ankita Bhandari murder case, officials said. The development came a day after the state government recommended a CBI probe into the matter. Meanwhile, BJP MLAs in Uttarakhand met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday and expressed gratitude for recommending a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the Ankita Bhandari murder case.
BJP leaders who met Dhami at the Chief Minister's camp office here included Premchand Agarwal, Khajan Das, Kishore Upadhyay, Sahdev Pundir, Savita Kapoor, Asha Nautiyal, Renu Bisht, Brijbhushan Gairola and Shaktilal Shah, among others.
After meeting Dhami, Tehri MLA Upadhyay said that the MLAs discussed the situation in the state and told the CM that he had taken a good decision to order a CBI inquiry into the murder case, in accordance with the wishes of her parents and public sentiment.
Upadhyay said that the MLAs expressed their gratitude to the chief minister for this.
The FIR was lodged at the Vasant Vihar police station in Dehradun on a complaint filed by Padma Bhushan-awarded environmentalist Anil Prakash Joshi to the director general of police.
Joshi, in the complaint, has stated that the criminals involved in Ankita's murder have been convicted, but allegations are being made that evidence has been concealed or destroyed.
An investigation into the crime involving an unidentified person, described as a "VIP," is necessary to ensure complete justice, he added. Actress Urmila Sanawar, who claims to be the wife of expelled BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, recently released videos on social media and audio recordings of her conversations, purportedly with Rathore, alleging the involvement of a 'VIP' in the Ankita murder case.
In another video, she claimed that the 'VIP' is BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam. Since then, several FIRs have been registered against her and Rathore in Dehradun and Haridwar.
Following this issue, various political parties, including the Congress, and social organizations were continuously protesting, demanding a CBI inquiry into the entire incident.
Based on the complaint, the police registered an FIR under sections 238, 249 and 45 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Harish Rawat said that the FIR should have been filed by Ankita's parents.
"The person named in the FIR is a highly respected person, but it would have been better if the FIR had been filed on behalf of Ankita's parents," he said in a social media post, adding that the state government should summon Ankita's father, Virendra Singh, and with the help of social workers, prepare the complaint according to the FIR he desires.
Opposition parties, however, are adamant that the CBI investigation be conducted under the supervision of a sitting Supreme Court or High Court judge.
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