Expelled BJP MLA held over audio clip allegedly linking party leader to Ankita Bhandari murder

Former Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Suresh Rathore has been arrested in Uttarakhand for allegedly making statements linking a party leader to the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case, PTI quoted the police as saying on Monday.

Rathore was detained from his office in Buggawala in Haridwar and taken to the Dalanwala police station in Dehradun, where he was formally arrested, Superintendent of Police Pramod Kumar told the news agency.

Bhandari worked as a receptionist at a resort in Rishikesh that was owned by Pulkit Arya, son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya. She went missing on September 18, 2022. A day later, Pulkit Arya, resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta filed a missing person report.

However, they later confessed to killing Bhandari by pushing her into a canal following an altercation. Bhandari’s body was recovered from the Chilla Canal in Rishikesh six days after she had gone missing.

The BJP expelled Vinod Arya and his other son Ankit Arya after the matter came to light.

Evidence recovered later, such as WhatsApp messages from Bhandari to a friend, seemed to show that the men were allegedly trying to force Bhandari into prostitution. It was claimed that she was killed for refusing to provide “special services” to a “VIP”.

In audio and video clips made public later, Rathore had...

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