CBI takes over murder case of Vanantara resort receptionist Ankita Bhandari | What we know so far

Here is what we know:

• A massive public outrage was triggered in 2022, when Ankita Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at Vanantra Resort in Uttarakhand’s Pauri, was murdered by resort owner Pulkit Arya and two of his employees.
• A special investigation team (SIT) was formed to investigate the case. Bhandari’s body was recovered from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh on September 24, 2022. Owner of the resort and son of an expelled BJP leader, Pulkit Arya was arrested as the main accused in the case, along with two others.
• Bhandari’s post-mortem report pegged the cause of death as drowning and indicated the presence of four to five antemortem injury (injuries before death) marks on her body. The report ruled out sexual assault.
• Bhandari was murdered after she allegedly refused to yield to their pressure to offer “extra services” to a VIP visitor in the state, HT earlier reported.
  In the recent letter demanding a CBI probe into the case, Ankita’s father said that his daughter was murdered because of a “VIP” whose identity is still unknown.
• Demands for a CBI inquiry rose after Urmila Sanawar, an actress who says she is the wife of a legislator, alleged the involvement of a “VIP” in the murder. She released videos and audio recordings on social media, which she claims capture conversations with the MLA and point to the role of a powerful figure in the Ankita murder case, reported news agency PTI.
• On January 4, workers from the Congress, the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, Mahila Manch, leftist parties and other organisations gathered at the Parade Ground and marched toward the chief minister’s residence, reiterating demands that the case be transferred to the CBI to disclose the identity of the alleged “VIP.”
• Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that separate FIRs had been registered in reference to the video and audio clips being circulated on social media and that an investigation is underway.