The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday expelled Pulkit Arya's father Vinod Arya and his brother Ankit Arya from the party's primary membership. Pulkit Arya is accused of murdering 19-year-old receptionist Ankita Bandhari. The Aryas were the party's prominent leaders in Haridwar. Ankit was also relieved by the Uttarakhand government from the post of Deputy Chairman of the state's Other Backward Classes Commission.
On Saturday, the police found the body of the woman in a lake near Rishikesh. They said Pulkit pushed her into the lake and took the help of two of his employees in committing the crime.
On Friday night, the Uttarakhand administration demolished Arya's resort in Rishikesh which had been built illegally.
On Friday, a senior police official of the Pauri district, Shekhar Suyal, said that Ankita Bhandari, daughter of Veerendra Singh Bhandari, was missing since September 18. On September 19, resort owner Pulkit Arya lodged a complaint with the police. On September 22, the Laxmanjhoola police registered a cause in this regard.
Suyal said Pulkit used to pressure her to make sexual relations with the guests. They had an altercation over this. On September 18, Pulkit, along with two of his employees, killed her.
Police said Pulkit Arya, Ankit Gupta, and Saurabh Bhaskar brought her to Rishikesh. While returning, Pulkit pushed the girl into the lake.
According to the police, Ankita had threatened Pulkit that she would expose the reality of the resort. She also threw his mobile phone into the lake.
He allegedly hatched an elaborate plan to throw police off his trail. He asked the cook to prepare meals for four people. He took food to Ankita's room so that no one gets suspicious. In the morning, they told everyone that Ankita had disappeared. \
According to reports, Ankita worked at the resort for only 22 days. She was killed before she received her first salary, Hindustan reported.
Apart from Arya, police have also arrested resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta.
