They were released later after being detained during a sit-in protest over the appointment of the former Uttarakhand BJP in-charge as the Governor of Sikkim.
The parents of Ankita Bhandari were detained at 4 am on Thursday but released later after staging a sit-in protest at India Gate in Delhi against the appointment of former Uttarakhand BJP in-charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam as the Governor of Sikkim.
Visuals shared by news agency ANI showed police taking Bhandari’s mother into custody. After being detained, she said she would begin a hunger strike at their home if the authorities did not allow them to protest.
"We want to state that we will remain steadfast until his (Dushyant Gautam) appointment is revoked... If we are not permitted to sit here, we will sit on a hunger strike in our own homes," she said.
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Her father said, “We give the government a 24-hour ultimatum: the appointment of Dushyant Kumar as the Governor of Sikkim must be cancelled. If it is not revoked, the people across the entire country will take to the streets, and the government will be held responsible.”
Congress leaders Supriya Shrinate, Pawan Khera and Kazi Nizamuddin slammed the police action. They alleged that the authorities were targeting those seeking justice for Ankita Bhandari and opposing Gautam’s proposed appointment.
Shrinate, who was present at the protest site, said, “What kind of action is this? A heartless act against helpless parents who have been seeking justice for four years. Instead of granting them justice, the main accused is being appointed as a Governor, and on top of that, these parents are being treated with such cruelty.”
The parents of the 19-year-old receptionist, who was murdered in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district in September 2022, have demanded that Gautam’s appointment be put on hold until the ongoing Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged VIP angle in the case is completed.
More details will be added shortly.
