New Delhi: The parents of Ankita Bhandari, the 19-year-old who was murdered in Uttarakhand in 2022, were released this morning after having been detained last evening while protesting against the appointment of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam as the governor of Sikkim.The family has steadfastly maintained that Gautam had a key role to play in the murder.A day ago, the Bhandaris began a sit-in at the India Gate, in protest against the appointment.Leader of Opposition (lin the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and his sister, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, met them at the site.After the Gandhis left, several Congress leaders, including the party’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera, social media department head Supritya Shrinate, Lok Sabha MP Jothimani Sennimalai, and Indian Youth Congress chief Uday Bhanu Chib, remained at the sit-in. They were also detained and later released, reports say.Online accounts say that the parents were picked up at around 4.05 am.Ankita Bhandari’s Parents breakdown as Delhi Police forcibly remove them from India Gate 4:05 AM#JusticeForAnkitaBhandari https://t.co/TeJwZu8ic5— Yogita Bhayana योगिता भयाना (@yogitabhayana) October 15, 2026“We give a 24-hour ultimatum to the government for the cancellation of Dushyant’s appointment. Nationwide protests will be launched if the government does not accept our demand,” Ankita’s father told PTI.Reacting to Ankita’s parents being detained, Rahul Gandhi wrote on X, “4 AM in the morning. While the world was asleep, Ankita Bhandari’s parents were taken into custody. Their crime? They were sitting quietly at India Gate – with heavy shoulders, without any commotion, and simply demanding that Dushyant Gautam should not be made the Governor of Sikkim until the CBI investigation is complete.”“Yesterday, Priyanka and I met these parents. Even before the results of that investigation came in, the appointment was rushed, and the parents asking questions were picked up in the dead of night. This is the hallmark of this government: silence the voices of the victims, remove those who ask questions. But the fight for justice will neither be silenced nor stopped. The Congress stands with Ankita Bhandari’s family, and will continue to stand – until they get justice,” he added.Ankita was a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort in Rishikesh, when she was killed on September 18, 2022. Among those convicted were resort owner Pulkit Arya, who is the son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya, and his two accomplices, resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta.Allegations by the Bhandaris have focused on the role of an alleged ‘VIP’ in the crime – several accounts allege that she was killed after she refused to entertain the VIP guest with “special services” which is an euphemism for sex work – and that Gautam, the then in-charge for BJP’s Uttarakhand wing was that VIP.A fact-finding team helmed by members of the Uttarakhand Mahila Manch and which involved 30 representatives from women’s groups, mass organisations also raised doubts about the police investigation.Gautam was appointed Sikkim governor on October 12.