Dehradun, May 30: The court of the Additional District and Session Judge of Kotdwar, Uttarakhand will deliver its verdict in the sensational Ankita Bhandari murder case on Friday. The case had made national headlines after the local people came out and protested over the murder of the 19-year-old woman who worked as a receptionist at Vanantra Resort located in Yamkeshwar of Pauri district.

The young woman was allegedly murdered by the resort operator Pulkit Arya, along with his two employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta on September 18, 2022.

The case had taken a sensational turn as Pulkit Arya is the son of Vinod Arya, a BJP leader and the local people had taken to the streets to protest over it. The BJP had shown Vinod Arya the door after the controversy erupted and the Uttarakhand government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter.

The Uttarakhand court completed its hearing in the Ankita Bhandari murder case on Monday and is scheduled to announce the verdict today.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Reena Negi on May 19 this year heard the final arguments between the defence and the prosecution in the case which had rocked Uttarakhand due to its political overtones.

After hearing the closing arguments of both sides, the Judge had fixed May 30 as the date for pronouncing the verdict.

The hearing of the case lasted for two years and eight months. During this time, 47 witnesses, including the Investigation Officer, were presented by the prosecution advocate Anuj Pundir.

According to the prosecution, Ankita Bhandari and Pulkit Arya had a dispute over something, after which the young man, along with Bhaskar and Gupta, allegedly pushed the woman into the Cheela canal in Rishikesh.

After Ankita Bhandari’s lifeless body was fished out of the Cheela canal, the three men were arrested by the police and sent to prison.

Fearing leniency for the accused and his accomplices due to his political connections, the residents of Pauri district came out in large numbers to protest, and the Uttarakhand government formed a SIT to probe the matter and take the case to its logical conclusion.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two accused including Office Assistant/ Verification Officer working at Passport Seva Kendra (PSK), Lower Parel Mumbai and an agent (private person) in a case related to issuing passports based on fake documents in lieu of bribe.

A case was registered by CBI against Office Assistant/VO, PSK, Lower Parel, Mumbai and other private persons working as passport agents. It was alleged in FIR that during the years 2023-2024, said accused public servant entered a criminal conspiracy with other private persons and in furtherance of the said criminal conspiracy, he has been obtaining undue advantage for doing passport related work.

In furtherance of the conspiracy with agent (private person) and other unknown persons, accused public servant has got issued fake passports of unknown applicants based on forged documents.

It was further revealed that unknown seven persons purporting as applicants had submitted forged documents such as Aadhar card copy, Pan card copy, Bank Account Statement and Birth Certificates as their address and identity proofs, in the Passport Office. During investigation, all the documents provided by them have also been found to be forged.

Further, communications chats between accused public servant and agent (private person) revealed discussion about payment of undue advantage concerning these fake passport applicants.

Investigation also revealed that mobile numbers provided by applicants in the passport applications are not in service. The Police Verification reports carried out after issuance of those passports under Tatkaal Scheme (which were earlier waived of during issuance of passports) have been found to be adverse, as addresses given on passport applications were fake.

As accused were evasive and did not cooperate during investigation. Both the accused were arrested. They were produced before Special CBI Court, Mumbai and have been sent to police custody for 05 days i.e. till 02.6.2025.

Investigation is continuing.

Aizawl/Imphal, May 28: Smuggling of various narcotic substances from Myanmar continues unabated in the northeastern states of India, as drugs valued at Rs 9.70 crore have been seized by the security forces in Manipur and Mizoram and four drug peddlers have been apprehended, officials said on Wednesday.

A Defence spokesman said that based on specific Intelligence regarding trafficking of narcotics, a mobile vehicle check post was established by Assam Rifles and Mizoram Police on Tuesday night at Teikhang area of Mizoram’s Saitual district.

During the operation, two individuals on two Chinese-made Kenbo bikes were intercepted, which resulted in the recovery of 758 grams of heroin with an approximate market value of Rs 5.30 crore.

In another incident in neighbouring Manipur, Assam Rifles, along with state police, conducted a search operation in Koide in Senapati district as part of ongoing efforts to curb drug trafficking. During the operation, 2.2 kg of brown sugar hidden in 220 soap cases and valued at Rs 4.40 crore was recovered.

The operation also led to two individuals being apprehended over suspicions of their involvement in illegal activities involving narcotics.

This successful joint operation reflects the steadfast commitment of Assam Rifles and Manipur Police in combating the drug menace and maintaining peace and security in the region, the spokesman said.

The seized drugs and the arrested drug peddlers were handed over to the police of the concerned state for further investigation and legal action.

Meanwhile, two people were arrested with drugs worth Rs 4 crore on the outskirts of Aizawl on Monday.

The Mizoram Excise and Narcotics Department officials, with the help of the Young Mizo Association’s anti-drugs squad, seized two kg of heroin and 9.8 kg of methamphetamine tablets, a police official said.

Officials said that as usual the seized drugs in Mizoram and Manipur were smuggled from Myanmar, which shares a 1,643 km unfenced border with four northeastern states of Mizoram, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland.

This serves as a key transit point for drugs, particularly heroin and methamphetamine tablets, entering India.