Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], January 8 (ANI): Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met the parents of late Ankita Bhandari and assured them of the state government's full support and commitment to ensuring justice in the case.

According to the Uttarakhand Chief Minister's Office (CMO), Dhami on Thursday met Ankita Bhandari's father, Virendra Singh Bhandari, and mother, Soni Devi, at the Chief Minister's residence in Dehradun. During the meeting, the bereaved parents shared their views and emotions related to the case with the Chief Minister.

CM Dhami listened to them with complete sensitivity and assured them that the state government stands firmly with the affected family.

The release stated that CM Dhami said that ensuring justice in this matter is the state government's highest priority. He also assured the bereaved family of all possible support and positive action on their demands.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and advocate Gaurav Bhatia welcomed the Delhi High Court's directions to Congress and AAP to remove social media posts linking BJP leader Dushyant Gautam to the Ankita Bhandari murder case, calling the verdict a victory for law and a reply to 'dirty politics.'

Speaking to the reporters, Bhatia said, 'The High Court in the matter of Dushyant Gautam has given directions to various defendants to immediately remove the malicious defamatory posts that the official social media handles of the Congress Party, the AAP, which Urmila has been posting, which are without any facts or basis. They are posted to indulge in cheap petty politics.'

'This is a befitting reply to the dirty politics that the Congress Party and AAP indulge in. This is the victory of law. All the defamatory content posted on social media handles of mainly Congress, AAP and Urmila would be removed within 24 hours,' he said.

The controversy traces back to the murder of Ankita Bhandari, a 19-year-old resort receptionist in Uttarakhand, whose body was recovered from a canal in September 2022.

The case involved allegations that she was being pressured to provide sexual favours to guests at a resort run by Pulkit Arya, the son of a former BJP leader. A trial court subsequently convicted Arya and two others, sentencing them to life imprisonment. (ANI)