After an overnight vigil at India Gate, a pre-dawn swoop by Delhi Police brought the dharna for “Justice to Ankita Bhandari” to an end. The cops arrived at the protest site at 4 am and took away the wailing parents of Ankita Bhandari, who was raped and murdered in Uttarakhand in 2022.Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and, later, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal visited the protest site on Wednesday evening to express solidarity with the parents. After they left, scores of Congress MPs, MLAs and workers of the Youth Congress and NSUI, among others, joined the dharna. Uttarakhand MLA and Congress office-bearer Qazi Nizamuddin, MPs Pawan Khera, Jothi Mani and Imran Pratapgarhi, Congress spokespersons Supriya Shrinate, Gurdeep Sappal and Ragini Nayak, Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib, NSUI president Vinod Jakhar and Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba, among others, joined the vigil, which continued until early morning before being disrupted by the cops.Videos of the police action went viral, with Chib, Jakhar and others even trying to intercept the bus carrying the detainees.Ankita’s parents arrived from Uttarakhand on Wednesday evening and sat on a dharna along with activist Yogita Bhayana, holding a placard that read, “Stop protecting the VIP”. The continuing controversy over Ankita’s murder received a fresh lease of life with the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Gautam as governor.The controversy revolves around the “VIP” who had allegedly sought “special service” at the infamous resort then owned by the son of a BJP leader. Ankita resisted the pressure. Her body was found in a canal in 2022, leading to a murder case.In a social media post, the Congress said there were allegations that Gautam was the “VIP” in question. “Narendra Modi has rewarded Gautam with the governorship of Sikkim. The girls and women of the country are watching how Modi and his govt are protecting Gautam.
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Instead of giving them justice, the entire BJP govt is hellbent on suppressing the voice of Ankita’s parents,” it said.Ankita’s father urged the President of India to put Gautam’s appointment as governor on hold until the CBI inquiry into the issue is completed.Ankita’s parents were taken by the cops to Tilak Marg police station, where they were swiftly joined by Congress leaders protesting the police action against the parents, who were seeking justice for their deceased daughter.
