A resolution was passed at the mahapanchayat seeking the removal of Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami from his post and bringing him under the ambit of the CBI probe he had recommended last month.

Ankita’s father said that probe should focus on the “VIP angle” and expressed concern that this was not mentioned in communications by authorities.

Another resolution passed at the mahapanchayat demanded that the CBI probe should not be conducted on the basis of the FIR filed on a complaint by environmentalist and Padma awardee Dr Anil Prakash Joshi. Joshi filed a complaint with police in Dehradun seeking action against the “VIP” allegedly involved in the case. However, the Opposition has questioned the motive behind the complainant, filed the same day that the CBI probe was recommended, and asked why the FIR was registered in Dehradun when the crime took place in Rishikesh and the trial was conducted at a court in Kotdwar.

Ankita’s father, Virendra Bhandari, and mother, Soni Devi, attended Sunday’s mahapanchayat and demanded that the investigation go beyond what has already been probed. “I had given a representation to the CM seeking a probe under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge. An FIR was registered on the complaint of Dr Anil Joshi, with whom I have no relationship,” Virendra Bhandari said, and reiterated his demand for the “VIP” to be found. He also said call detail records in the case should be probed. “If my daughter did not bow, how can I?” he asked. Around 40 organisations and more than 500 people participated in the mahapanchayat convened by the Ankita Nyay Yatra Joint Struggle Forum. Constituent political parties of the INDIA bloc extended support to the gathering.

Five resolutions were passed. These included demand for cancellation of Joshi’s FIR and removal of CM Dhami from the office until the probe is completed. A memorandum addressed to the President was also sent through the mahapanchayat.

Senior Congress leader and former CM Harish Rawat said that an investigation based on the FIR of a government-sponsored individual cannot be impartial, raising apprehensions that VIPs would be shielded even in the CBI probe.

CPI (ML) leader Indresh Maikhuri called Ankita’s murder an “Uttarakhand version of an international-level Epstein file”.

Aiswarya Raj is a Senior Correspondent for The Indian Express, covering Uttarakhand. She brings sound journalistic experience to her role, having started her career at the organisation as a sub-editor with the Delhi city team. She subsequently developed her reporting expertise by covering Gurugram and its neighbouring districts before transitioning to her current role as a resident correspondent in Dehradun. She is an alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) and the University of Kerala. She has reported on the state politics, governance, environment and wildlife, and gender. Aiswarya has undertaken investigations using the Right to Information Act on law enforcement, public policy and procurement rules in Uttarakhand. She has also attempted narrative journalism on socio-economic matters affecting local communities. This specific, sustained focus on critical regional news provides the necessary foundation for high trustworthiness and authoritativeness on topics concerning Uttarakhand. … Read More

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