Various political and social organisations have decided to observe a State-wide Bandh on Sunday to protest against the Ankita Bhandari murder. The Uttarakhand Congress has decided to support the Bandh call given by some opposition parties and organisations on October 2. The Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Karan Mahara has asked the party leaders and the workers to support the Bandh call.

In a statement, the vice president (organisation) of Uttarakhand Congress Mathura Dutt Joshi said on Saturday that the party is consistently demanding from the Union and State governments to hand over the investigation of the Ankita Bhandari murder case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) but the government is paying no heed to the demand. He claimed that the BJP government is trying to save a ‘VIP’ leader of the party who is involved in the case but the people of the State would not tolerate this. Joshi said that Ankita Bhandari, an innocent daughter of Uttarakhand was brutally murdered and thrown in the Cheela barrage and it has agitated the people of the State. The general secretary (organisation) of the Congress, Vijay Saraswat said that the government should reveal the identity of the VIP who is said to be involved in the case.

 Saraswat said that PCC president Mahara has directed all the district and Mahanagar committees to actively participate in making the Bandh call, a success.

 The Uttarakhand Congress has also decided to hold a candle march in Dehradun on the evening of October 2 to pay its homage to Ankita Bhandari.