Pulkit Arya, son of a suspended BJP leader and accused of murdering a woman receptionist at the Uttarakhand resort he owns, was seen with a woman near the purported crime scene on the night of the murder, an eyewitness has told the trial court.
Ashish Purohit, a forest department guard, identified Pulkit in court as the scooty rider he saw crossing the Pashulok Barrage checkpoint in Rishikesh, with a woman on the pillion, at 9pm on September 18 last year.
Pulkit and two resort employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, are accused of beating and throwing the 19-year-old receptionist into the Chilla Canal from the barrage on September 18. All three are in jail custody.
Purohit testified in the court of Reena Negi, additional district and sessions judge of Kotdwar in Pauri Garhwal district, on Friday. He said he was on duty at the checkpoint on September 18 night and saw Pulkit and the girl, as well as two men on a motorcycle following their scooty.
“All four were allowed to go towards the barrage after they said they were together going to their village, Kaudia,” Purohit later told reporters, repeating his court testimony.
Kaudia is 2km from the barrage. Pulkit’s Vanantara Resort is in Yamkeshwar, which is 20km from the barrage.
Pushp Deep, a friend of the victim, has forwarded to the police several WhatsApp messages from her, including one she sent him a few hours before her death, officers have confirmed.
In the message, she alleges that Pulkit is pressuring her to “oblige” a VIP guest and that she has decided to quit the job. The police have confirmed that some former female employees of the resort have accused Pulkit of running a prostitution racket from there.
On Sunday, the victim’s father told reporters in Pauri Garhwal: “It’s a long battle. Only 17 of the 97 witnesses have testified so far.”
He accused Pulkit and his father Vinod Arya — a now-suspended BJP leader — of playing “tricks”.
“Pulkit felt ‘unwell’ before the guard came to the court to identify him. He was quickly taken to hospital where doctors found him fit. Only then was he brought to the court. Vinod retains his influence over the BJP government,” he said.
According to the woman’s family, Pulkit and Vinod had used their influence to stall any police search after her disappearance. The search eventually began on September 22 following a massive protest by her family and local people, and the body was fished out of the canal the next day.
The father alleged that “police, state government officials and some politicians became active on September 23, visited the resort and systematically destroyed all evidence”.
“Sandhya Negi, sub-inspector of the forensic mobile unit of Uttarakhand police, told the court on Friday that they had searched my daughter’s room in the resort but found no relevant fingerprints,” the father said.
Earlier, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had refused a demand from the girl’s parents to recommend a CBI probe.
