Kotdwar: A local court on Tuesday heard a petition seeking its permission to conduct narco and polygraph tests of the accused in the Ankita Bhandari murder case.
Judicial Magistrate (first class) Bhavna Pandey fixed January 5 as the next date of hearing in the case after hearing the arguments of the prosecution and defence lawyers.
Prosecution lawyer Ajay Pant argued that both narco and polygraph test of the accused should be conducted. While defence lawyer Amit Sajwan wanted it to be clarified whether the narco test or the polygraph test of the accused should be conducted as they are different.
Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at Vanantara resort near Rishikesh, was allegedly killed by its owner Pulkit Arya and his two accomplices.
The accused are in jail and a charge sheet has also been filed against them by the special investigation team (SIT) investigating the case.
A letter on behalf of the accused had been sent to the court in which they had made a plea to be heard, their lawyer Sajwan said.
They had said that their narco test should be done to find out who pushed Bhandari into the river. “What was the reason for it and what sort of relationship Ankita had with her friend Pushp, and why he left her and went on the day the incident took place,” the letter stated.
They also wanted to know whether they could be contacted when a charge sheet has already been filed in the case.
It is likely that the court will contact the accused via video conferencing, Sajwan said.
The prosecution, on the other hand, argued that a narco test of the accused can be conducted even if they are not ready for it. He cited the example of Noida’s sensational Aarushi murder case in which a narco test of the Talwar couple was done despite their disagreement.
Prosecution lawyer Pant said Ankita’s parents were to come to the court in person on Tuesday, but could not due to bad weather.
“They will go to the Supreme Court with the charge sheet if they do not get justice here,” he said.
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