Delhi Police detained Ankita Bhandari's parents and opposition leaders at India Gate early Thursday. Congress leaders alleged police manhandled protesters during the sit-in. "The way they are manhandling MPs while detaining them is extremely shameful," a protester said. The group demanded the government cancel Dushyant Gautam's appointment as Sikkim Governor.

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Delhi Police detained Ankita Bhandari's parents and several opposition leaders during a sit-in protest at India Gate in the early hours of Thursday, with Congress leaders alleging that demonstrators were manhandled and demanding justice in the case. The detentions took place around 4 am.

Congress leaders Supriya Shrinate, Pawan Khera and Kazi Nizamuddin criticised the police action, accusing the authorities of targeting those seeking justice for Ankita Bhandari and questioning the alleged proposed appointment of Dushyant Gautam.

"The police are detaining women protesters. The way they are manhandling MPs while detaining them is extremely shameful. The government must understand that the tears of Ankita Bhandari's parents will cost it dearly," a protester said, news agency ANI reported.

Congress MP Pawan Khera alleged that the police action indicated a decline in democratic freedoms. "This is brutality. You can see democracy coming to an end at India Gate. It is ending at 4 am," he said.

Targeting newly appointed Sikkim Governor Dushyant Gautam, Khera further alleged that those protesting against the accused were being detained, while the person facing allegations could be appointed to a constitutional position.

Khera said, "Barbarity is happening in this country. 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."

The protesters demanded that Dushyant Gautam's appointment as Governor be cancelled amid the investigation into the alleged VIP angle in the case.

Qazi Nizamuddin, AICC in-charge of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee and an MLA, also criticised the police action, alleging that the authorities should be acting against Dushyant Gautam rather than detaining Ankita Bhandari's parents.

Earlier on Wednesday, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met the parents of late Ankita Bhandari during their sit-in protest at India Gate.

The grieving family staged the protest against the recent appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Sikkim Governor, citing alleged links to the case and demanding that his appointment be put on hold pending a central investigation.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the government's decision, Ankita's father, Virendra Singh Bhandari, called for legal accountability and urged the President to withhold Gautam's appointment until the CBI probe is completed. "Dushyant Kumar should be behind bars. I earnestly request the Honourable President not to appoint Dushyant Kumar as Governor until the CBI investigation is concluded," he said.

Ankita Bhandari was murdered on September 18, 2022, and her body was recovered from the Chilla Canal on September 24, 2022.

Resort owner Pulkit Arya, son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, and two resort staff members, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, were arrested and chargesheeted in the case. On May 30, 2025, Additional District Judge Reena Negi sentenced all three to life imprisonment in Kotdwar for murder, destruction of evidence and other offences.

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