Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday urged President Droupadi Murmu to advise the government to reconsider the appointment of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Sikkim’s governor amid a murder probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The parents of Ankita Bhandari, who was murdered in 2022, and Congress MPs were detained by security personnel on Thursday during their sit-in protest at Delhi’s India Gate against Gautam’s appointment.
The BJP leader was named as the next governor of Sikkim on Monday even as Bhandari’s family and activists have alleged that Gautam is the alleged VIP linked to the murder case.
“By recommending the appointment of Dushyant Gautam, Prime Minister Modi has demonstrated that he has absolutely no concern for the safety of women,” Gandhi said on social media.
Bhandari worked as a receptionist at a resort in Uttarakhand’s Rishikesh that was owned by Pulkit Arya, the son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya. The 19-year-old went missing on September 18, 2022. A day later, Pulkit Arya, resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and his assistant Ankit Gupta filed a missing person report.
However, they later confessed to killing Bhandari by pushing her into a canal following an altercation. Bhandari’s body was recovered from the Chilla Canal in Rishikesh six days after she had gone missing.
The BJP expelled Vinod Arya and...