IEP DEHRADUN

The murder of Ankita Bhandari by a resort owner in Gangabhogpur area of Yamkeshwar in Pauri district has renewed the long standing demand for abolition of the old system of revenue police in Uttarakhand. In more than 60 per cent of the territory of the State the revenue Patwaris are also given police powers. Vidhan Sabha speaker Ritu Khanduri sent a letter to the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in which she requested that the system of revenue police should be abolished with immediate effect and police posts and stations should be set up in place of revenue police posts.

“ VS speaker writes letter to CM on the subject ” She said that the old practice of revenue police is still prevalent in many areas of the State. Khanduri said that in Ankita Bhandari could have lived had the normal police been functioning and the general public would not have been so much agitated as they are today.

She said that in today’s time when victim can file zero FIR from any part of the country and register his or her complaint one is pained to observe that revenue police personnel which lack modern arms and no training to deal with criminals are operating in an area which is only 15 kilometres away from the Rishikesh city.

Khanduri requested that police stations and posts should be set up in the areas which are under the jurisdiction of the revenue police so that the repetition of such incidents is prevented.

IEP DEHRADUN

Following allegations being leveled by some media outlets and citizens on social media about the government conspiring to destroy evidence of Ankita Bhandari’s murder by demolishing the resort she was working in, the police have clarified that the necessary evidence has already been collected. DGP  Ashok Kumar said that the police have already collected necessary evidence from the resort. “We have the evidence we need. The demolition of the resort resulting in destruction of evidence is very unlikely,” he said. The police have clarified that they had already collected all forensic and electronic evidence from the resort before its demolition was started. Noted advocate Atul Pundir said that the collection of evidence depends on the origin of offence. “From what is known so far, the crime occurred near the canal. Plus, these days electronic evidence is also crucial and useful. Google location too can provide usable information,” he said

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By taking a series of swift actions in less than 24 hours in the backdoor appointments in Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha and Ankita Bhandari murder case the Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has tried to give a clear message on governance to the people of the State. On Friday the Assembly speaker Ritu Khanduri sent a proposal to the State government that 228 backdoor appointments in the Vidhan Sabha secretariat should be cancelled.

 Acting promptly on the proposal the CM immediately accepted the proposal. He congratulated the speaker for the prompt inquiry in the case. Within hours of taking this decision, Dhami on late Friday night ordered demolition of the resort owned by Pulkit Arya, the son of the BJP leader Vinod Arya. Pulkit is the prime accused in the murder of Ankita Bhandari.

On Saturday Dhami ordered the removal of Ankit Arya from the post of deputy chairman of the Uttarakhand Other Backward Caste Commission. Ankit is the brother of Pulkit Arya. Acting on the suggestion of CM the president of the Uttarakhand BJP, Mahendra Bhatt removed Vinod Arya and his son Ankit Arya from the BJP. It is pertinent to mention here that on the backdoor appointments in the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha, Dhami had requested the speaker to get the case investigated and cancel the appointments if found illegal.

 This stand of CM assumed significance in the wake of the allegations that relatives and acquaintances of the senior BJP leader and RSS functionaries figure in the list of 72 appointments done during the tenure of the Speaker Prem Chand Agarwal. Incidentally Agarwal who holds the Finance, parliamentary affairs and urban development portfolios has been consistently claiming that all the appointments done by him were legal. In the Ankita Bhandari case, CM acted as per the public aspirations and ordered the demolition of Vananatra, the illegal resort of Pulkit Arya.

 On the orders of the CM, the bulldozer of the Pauri administration demolished the resort of the accused in murder of Ankita Bhandari. The prompt decisions taken by CM taken one after another show that Dhami wants to give a clear message that the policy of Zero tolerance on corruption adopted by him would continue and he would compromise on governance. These steps are also being viewed as an attempt to salvage the image of his government which has taken a beating in recent times due recruitment scams and the charges of improper handling of law and order situation.

IEP DEHRADUN

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Deputy Inspector General (DIG) P Renuka Devi in the Ankita Bhandari murder case which will investigate every aspect of the case. Dhami has also directed officials to check all the tourist resorts in the State. Interacting with media persons at his residence.

The CM said no one, whosoever he may be, would be spared if guilty. He said that the government would make an effort to ensure that the case is heard in a fast track court. Expressing deep anguish at the murder of Bhandari, the CM said that it is very sad and added that the government has taken every necessary action promptly. He said that the Patwari who showed laxity in the case has been suspended, the resort has been demolished and the culprits are behind the bars.

He added that the father and brother (Vinod Arya and Ankit Arya) of the prime accused Pulkit have been removed from the BJP and Ankit Arya has been removed from the position of vice chairman of the Uttarakhand OBC commission. Making an appeal to the people, Dhami said that they should not cast doubt on the intent of the government and police. The CM said that he has asked the administration to check all the resorts constructed on government or forest land. He said that the action would be taken against the illegal resorts in the State.

IEP DEHRADUN

A day after taking an unprecedented decision of removing 228 ad hoc workers of Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha, the speaker Ritu Khanduri met the governor Lieutenant General ( Retd) Gurmit Singh at Raj Bhawan.

In the meeting she apprised the governor about the report submitted to her by the expert committee and its findings.

The governor praised the expert committee for completing its investigation before the stipulated time period and expressed satisfaction on the decision taken by the Speaker Khanduri. He suggested that necessary steps should be taken for improving the system and work culture in Vidhan Sabha. Acting on the recommendations of the expert committee constituted by her to investigate backdoor appointments in Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha, Khanduri had decided to cancel 228 appointments in the Vidhan Sabha.

 The committee in its report said that no selection committee was set up for making the ad hoc appointments, no advertisement was issued, and no competitive examinations were held to select the candidates. It found all the appointments illegal and recommended that 150 appointments done in the year 2016, six in the year 2020 and 72 done in the year 2021 should be cancelled. Incidentally these appointments were done by former speakers Govind Singh Kunjwal and Prem Chand Agarwal.