The 2022 sensational Ankita Bhandari murder case has taken a new turn with the victim’s mother demanding the arrest of state BJP general secretary Ajay Kumar as he was allegedly the VIP whose name appeared in the probe.

She wanted local BJP MLA Renu Bisht arrested as he had ordered the erasing of the victim’s room at Vanantra Resort where she worked as a receptionist.

Ankita’s wailing mother, Soni Devi, alleged that the name of the state BJP general secretary Ajay Kumar surfaced in the statements recorded by witnesses during investigation and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami must take action.

Soni Devi, in a video statement on Sunday, said, “Arrest Ajay Kumar for it’s clear that his name surfaced in the probe as the VIP who visited the resort. Also, arrest MLA Renu Bisht and Pramod Kumar, the then SDM, on whose order Ankita’s room was erased by a JCB driver.”

She said she felt betrayed by the state government for its inaction in the Ankita Bhandari case.

“Dhami has not done anything to ensure justice to Ankita and us. He made false promises. He said he would do this, he would do that, but he has done nothing. Why has the Dhami Government not taken action against Renu Bisht and Pramod Kumar even as the JCB driver made a statement that he erased the room on their order,” Soni Devi asked as she demanded justice for her 19-year old daughter who was killed in September 2022 allegedly by the resort owner, Pulkit Arya, and two of his employees Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta.

Arya is the son of a senior RSS leader in Haridwar. All the three accused were arrested by the police and the probe was handed out to a special investigation team (SIT) led by senior IPS officer P Renuka Devi. They had allegedly lured the victim to join them on an outing and pushed her into Chilla Barrage on Ganga River Canal near Rishikesh. Her body was recovered seven days after she had gone missing.

Ankita worked as a receptionist at Vanantra Resort located at the Ganga Bhogpur area of Yamkeshwar assembly constituency represented by BJP MLA Renu Bisht.

As per WhatsApp chats with her friend recovered by the police, Ankita had apprehensions that she was being forced into flesh trade by the accused in the guise of giving ‘extra services’ to the VIP visitors of the resort. Later, eyewitnesses and other resort employees also told the police that a VIP had visited the resort on the day Ankita was beaten up by Arya and taken to the barrage with other accused.

The victim’s mother alleged that people who are coming forward to help her family are being harassed by the state police and the government. She threatened to end her life if the state government does not stop harassment of her supporters.

The BJP, on the other hand, denied that he charges levelled by Ankita’s mother and said that Opposition was indulging in character assassination of its leader. “Ankita’s parents have levelled allegations in a fit of anger while the Congress party is exhibiting its exasperations over electoral losses. The Opposition is trying to assassinate BJP leader’s character in the garb of the statements made by Ankita’s mother. The government and the BJP are with the victim’s family and justice will be done in the case as it’s sub judice.