‘She wanted to escape’: How 100 witnesses, exhaustive evidence exposed VIP cover-up, led to justice in Rishikesh resort murder case | India News

NEW DELHI: The verdict arrived like a long-awaited storm in Kotdwar’s courtroom, quiet but crushing. More than two years and eight months after a 19-year-old receptionist was murdered in cold blood, the gavel finally fell. Resort owner Pulkit Arya, along with Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, was sentenced to life imprisonment.For those who had followed the case, one that had stunned Uttarakhand and the nation, it was a grim vindication. The verdict, delivered by the additional district and sessions judge, came after a painstaking trial involving around 100 witnesses of which 47 were produced in court with their testimonies stretching over nearly three years.The charges were as damning as the headlines that once blazed across national media. The trio stood convicted under multiple sections of murder, destruction of evidence, criminal conspiracy, and sexual harassment. The court also found them guilty under the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, lending judicial weight to early suspicions that the Vanantra Resort in Rishikesh, where the victim worked, was a front for something far darker.One witness didn’t mince words, calling the resort “a den of vice.”The girl had only been 19, employed at a property owned by Pulkit Arya, son of a now-expelled BJP leader. In the weeks before her death, she had reached out to those she trusted. A former colleague and a close friend both later revealed she had confided in them – terrified, desperate, and deeply uneasy. She told them she was being pushed to provide “special services” to an incoming VIP guest.“She wanted to escape from there,” said an officer from the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which later took over the probe.But she never got the chance. On September 18, 2022, she was killed for refusing those demands. Her body surfaced six days later, dumped in the Chilla canal. The crime, horrifying in its brutality and made more incendiary by the accused’s political connections, lit a fuse of public outrage. Protests broke out across the state. A high-level investigation was ordered.At the centre of it all was the SIT, led by DIG P Renuka Devi. Their investigation produced a 500-page chargesheet. The evidence was exhaustive: about 100 witness statements and 30 pieces of documentary proof. Yet, it was two voices that ultimately helped crack the case wide open – the victim’s confidantes. Her friend and the ex-employee both confirmed what she had feared: the resort was not what it seemed, and she was desperate to leave.Initially, much of what was known came from WhatsApp chats with her friend, some of which were later leaked online. But investigators discovered she had also spoken to the former employee, warning them about the illegal activities at the resort and her fear of being forced to serve a powerful, unnamed VIP.Senior officers later confirmed that narco-tests were requested for the accused in hopes of identifying this shadowy figure. His name, even today, remains unknown.When the day of the verdict arrived, Pauri Garhwal’s courtroom was transformed. Security was tight. Officers from nearby districts were brought in. The area around the courthouse was designated a “zero zone” – a perimeter of 100 metres where only government staff and approved attendees were allowed entry.Outside, emotions overflowed. Soni Devi, the victim’s mother, broke down as she addressed the media. “May the criminals be sentenced to death,” she told ANI. Her words rang heavy with grief and fury, echoing the pain that first gripped Uttarakhand back in 2022 and the demand for justice that never wavered.