Soon after assuming charge the newly appointed senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Pauri district Shweta Choubey issued an order to register case under the Gangster Act against all the three accused in the Ankita Bhandari murder case on Sunday. Meanwhile, the candy factory of the main accused Pulkit Arya which was located in the vicinity of his Vanantara resort caught fire on Sunday. It is being stated that a short circuit was the probable cause of fire.

The Pauri SSP stated that the accused have been involved in anti-social acts in and around their resort, have earned money illegally and have committed heinous crimes in the area disturbing the peace and order. Considering this, Choubey directed the circle officer concerned and Lakshman Jhula police station in-charge to file a case against the accused under the 2/3 UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act. Though the police have imposed the additional act on the accused, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder case is yet to file a chargesheet against them in the court as per their statement about two weeks ago. The officials had stated that the SIT had made progress on various aspects during the investigation and was working towards winding it up to file a chargesheet, possibly by the end of October. However, the officials have stated that they are still presently working intensively to make the case strong and are yet to receive some reports from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). The team has inquired about almost all the witnesses and is analysing important electronic and digital evidence associated with the case. The SIT is set to file a chargesheet against the accused soon, stated the officials. Meanwhile, the factory of the main accused Pulkit Arya located near his resort at Ganga Bhogpur caught fire on Sunday. The station house officer (SHO) of Lakshman Jhula police station, Vinod Gusain stated that it appears that the fire was caused due to a short circuit on Sunday morning and no casualties occurred during the accident. He said that it took about two hours to control the fire with the help of three fire tenders. The police are investigating the matter, added the SHO. On the question of whether any evidence was destroyed from the scene connected with the 19-year-old receptionist Ankita Bhandari’s murder, the authorities said that all necessary evidence had already been gathered by the police during the investigation.