On Thursday night at 4 a.m., Delhi Police moved in on a sit‑in protest at India Gate where parents of late Uttarakhand student Ankita Bhandari had been demanding justice for her murder, which occurred on 18 September 2022 and whose body was recovered six days later. The parents have been seeking a resolution for four years, a fact that has fueled the intensity of the demonstration.
Police detained the parents and at least three Congress MPs—Supriya Shrinate, Pawan Khera, and Qazi Nizamuddin—during the operation. Khera slammed the action as “brutality” and warned that democratic freedoms were eroding, while Shrinate described the arrests as a ruthless attack on helpless parents.
The protest also targeted the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Governor of Sikkim, amid allegations of a VIP link in the Bhandari case. Virendra Singh Bhandari, Ankita’s father, demanded that Gautam be barred from office until the central investigation is concluded, calling the appointment “a sham justice system.”
Delhi Police spokesperson Anil Kumar said the arrests were made to restore order during the early‑morning protest, but Congress officials say the move is a crackdown on dissent. The police have not yet released a statement on whether the parents will be allowed to continue their sit‑in.
The parents remain in custody; a court hearing is scheduled for next week to decide on the legality of their detention. Congress will file a parliamentary motion to revoke Gautam’s appointment and will continue its campaign for justice in Uttarakhand.