Ankita Bhandari murder case: Prime accused Pulkit Arya to undergo narco, polygraph tests

Dehradun, Uttarakhand: The First Class Judicial Magistrate Court Kotdwar, in Uttarakhand on Wednesday approved the narco and polygraph tests of expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader’s son Pulkit Arya, the main accused in Ankita Bhandari murder case. 

In the case, consent was taken from Pulkit Arya on behalf of the Judicial Magistrate through video conferencing, after which the verdict was pronounced. Questions to be asked as per Pulkit Arya’s conditions will also be included in the Narco and Polygraph test. Earlier, this week, the court postponed the verdict for 5 days on the narco and polygraph tests of the accused in the Ankita Bhandari murder case. 

The case pertains to 19-year-old Ankita, whose body was recovered from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh on September 24. She was reported missing for at least six days before the officials found her body. She worked as a receptionist at a resort run by Pulkit Arya, the son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya. 

Pulkit Arya was arrested for allegedly pushing her into the canal following an altercation. Two more people - Ankit Gupta and Saurabh Bhaskar, have also been arrested in the case. On December 4, the Uttarakhand Police said that the investigation into the Ankita Bhandari murder case is almost complete. 

The only procedure that remains is the narco tests of the accused, for which they had sought permission from the Kotdwar court to conduct narco and polygraph tests of all three accused. Earlier, the three accused, including expelled BJP leader’s son Pulkit Arya refused to undergo narco and polygraph tests, citing that the SIT did not explain why it wanted to conduct narco and polygraph tests after filing the charge sheet.

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