Uttarakhand HC asks CBI to probe Aanchal Pandhi case

The Uttarakhand high court on Tuesday ordered an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the death of 30-year-old Aanchal Pandhi, who was found dead under suspicious circumstances on Valentine’s Day in her apartment in Dehradun in 2017.

Farrukh Khan, counsel of the petitioner Anil Kohli, father of the deceased, said the order was issued by Single Bench of Lok Pal Singh. 

The bench was responding to the petition of Anil Kohli who alleged that the case was being botched up by the investigating agencies by converting the murder case into a case of abetment to suicide, as the accused Rahul Pandhi, husband of Aanchal, was an influential person. Khan said Kohli has alleged that his daughter was murdered by her husband.

Khan said after Anchal died on February 14, 2017, his father registered a complaint with Rajpur police station in Dehradun under section 302 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Rahul and three other persons.

“But in June last year, the police filed a charge sheet in the lower court in Dehrdun, in which Rahul was made an accused in abetment to suicide under Indian Penal Code section 306,” he said.

“After we argued in the court that the matter was being botched up as Rahul was an influential person, the court conceded to our demand. We also produced Rahul’s photographs with some prominent politicians in the state before the court,” Khan said.

First Published: Aug 07, 2018 22:10 IST