Their detention occurred at around 4 am, when several opposition leaders were also held during a sit-in demonstration calling for justice in the case of the late Ankita Bhandari.

Congress leaders Pawan Khera, Jothimani and Imran Pratapgarhi staged a protest inside the police station after being detained earlier in the day. Other Congress figures, including Supriya Shrinate and Qazi Nizamuddin, criticised the police action, alleging that authorities were targeting those demanding justice and questioning the appointment of Dushyant Gautam as Governor of Sikkim.

Congress MP Pawan Khera condemned the police response, stating, “This is brutality. You can see democracy coming to an end at India Gate. It is ending at 4 am.” He criticised the appointment of Dushyant Gautam, alleging, “The one who has been accused will become the governor, and Ankita’s parents will go to jail? We are protesting against rapists, so we will go to jail, and the one who has been accused of rape will become the governor-this is democracy.”

On Wednesday, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met with Bhandari’s parents during the sit-in protest at India Gate. The family demonstrated against the recent appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Governor of Sikkim, citing alleged links and calling for the appointment to be halted pending a central investigation.

Ankita Bhandari was murdered on September 18, 2022; her body was found in the Chilla Canal on September 24, 2022. The resort owner Pulkit Arya, son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, along with two staff members, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, were arrested, chargesheeted, and sentenced to life imprisonment on May 30, 2025, by Additional District Judge Reena Negi in Kotdwar for murder, destruction of evidence and other charges.