DEHRADUN, Nov 12: Former Uttarakhand minister and Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat alleged that the BJP had used an old allegation of sexual assault raised by an Assam resident, Jeny, as a political weapon to divert public attention from the demand for justice in the Ankita Bhandari murder case.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Rawat said the Congress would continue its fight for action against the alleged “VIP” linked to the Ankita Bhandari case. He claimed that the BJP had revived the old allegation against him as part of a political conspiracy.
Jeny alleged that in 2002, when she was 16, some people took her to Rawat's residence in Dehradun on the promise of a job, where she was sexually assaulted. She later gave birth to a child and claimed that Rawat was the father.
She recently sought a fresh investigation and a new DNA test, claiming that she had not received justice during the earlier probe.
Rawat denied the allegation and said the Central Bureau of Investigation had investigated the matter in 2003 when the BJP was in power. He claimed that the probe found that Jeny had given incorrect information on several occasions and that a DNA test had also been conducted.
Rawat said questioning the earlier CBI probe would also mean questioning the investigation process under the BJP government and during the tenure of then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He alleged that the BJP had revived the issue to put political pressure on the Congress ahead of next year's Uttarakhand Assembly election.
Political controversy continued over the Ankita Bhandari case. Ankita's body was recovered on September 18, 2022. She had been working as a receptionist at a resort in Rishikesh. Resort owner Pulkit Arya and two of his associates were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case.
Ankita's family has sought a separate investigation into allegations of the involvement of an unidentified “VIP” in the case. The identity of the alleged VIP has remained a matter of political debate in Uttarakhand.
