NEW DELHI: The parents of Ankita Bhandari, who was murdered at a resort in Uttarakhand in September 2022, were removed from Rajghat in Delhi on Wednesday (November 04) after staging a protest near the public entrance of Mahatma Gandhi's memorial, police sources said.
Bhandari's parents had visited Rajghat to offer prayers and interact with the media. They later staged a dharna along with two other people near the memorial's public gate, an area that is not designated for protests, a police source said.
Police personnel repeatedly asked the group to disperse. However, after they refused to leave, they were removed from the spot. The police did not detain them, the source added.
During the incident, Bhandari's mother, Soni Devi, complained of health issues and was taken to the Burari government hospital for a medico-legal examination (MLC). However, she and her husband declined to undergo a medical examination, according to the source.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Burari Sanjeev Jha and his supporters subsequently reached the hospital. Bhandari's parents later left with the legislator.
The incident comes about a fortnight after Bhandari's parents were detained by police on October 14 while protesting near India Gate against the appointment of Dushyant Kumar Gautam as the governor of Sikkim.
Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at Vanantra Resort in Rishikesh, was murdered on September 18, 2022. Her body was recovered from the Chilla canal four days later.
Resort owner Pulkit Arya, son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, and his two accomplices were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder.
The case attracted considerable political attention following allegations that an unidentified VIP was linked to the crime. Bhandari's family and activists have repeatedly demanded an investigation into this alleged angle. (with inputs from media organisations)