Ankita Bhandari's parents detained, Congress alleges police manhandled protesters

Delhi Police detained Ankita Bhandari's parents, Congress leaders and other protesters at India Gate around 4 am on Thursday. Congress accused police of manhandling demonstrators protesting Dushyant Gautam's appointment as Sikkim Governor and demanding justice in the 2022 murder case.Parents of Ankita Bhandari detained by Delhi police. New Delhi,Oct 15, 2026 06:00 ISTDelhi Police detained the parents of Ankita Bhandari, along with several Congress leaders and other protesters, during an overnight sit-in at India Gate on Thursday, with the party accusing the police of manhandling demonstrators demanding justice in the case.The detentions took place around 4 am, hours after Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met Ankita's parents at the protest site on Wednesday.Congress leaders Supriya Shrinate, Pawan Khera and Kazi Nizamuddin condemned the police action, alleging that the authorities were targeting those seeking justice for Ankita and opposing the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Sikkim Governor.“This is brutality. You can see democracy coming to an end at India Gate. It is ending at 4 am,” Khera said. He questioned the circumstances in which the protesters were detained, alleging that the person facing accusations in connection with the case could be appointed to a constitutional post while Ankita's parents were being taken away by the police.“The one who has been accused will become the governor, and Ankita's parents will go to jail? We are protesting against rapists, so we will go to jail, and the one who has been accused of rape will become the governor—this is democracy,” Khera said. Shrinate also criticised the detentions, describing the police action as harsh treatment of parents who had been seeking justice for four years. She questioned why women protesters were being detained before 6 am instead of the authorities addressing the family's demands.Nizamuddin, the Congress's Delhi in-charge, alleged that the police should have acted against Gautam instead of detaining the protesters.He said the family had been holding a peaceful sit-in and that the police arrived late at night and took away the protesters, including women leaders. Nizamuddin said the Congress would continue its campaign until the family received justice and reiterated its demand that Gautam be arrested.The protesters have demanded that Gautam's appointment as Sikkim Governor be put on hold pending an investigation into the alleged VIP angle in Ankita's murder.Earlier on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met Ankita's parents at India Gate and expressed support for their demand for justice.Ankita's father, Virendra Singh Bhandari, urged President Droupadi Murmu not to proceed with Gautam's appointment until the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry was concluded. He said Gautam should be held accountable and demanded that the investigation be completed before the appointment.Ankita, who worked at a resort in Uttarakhand, was murdered on September 18, 2022. Her body was recovered from the Chilla Canal on September 24 that year.Resort owner Pulkit Arya, son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, and two resort employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, were arrested in the case. On May 30, 2025, a court in Kotdwar sentenced all three to life imprisonment for murder, destruction of evidence and other offences.The latest protest centres on the family's demand for further investigation into the alleged VIP angle and its opposition to Gautam's appointment as Governor. The allegations raised by protesters against Gautam remain distinct from the convictions secured in Ankita's murder case.- Ends