Meteorological evidence played a crucial role in debunking the defense claims of convicted resort owner Pulkit Arya in Uttarakhand’s high-profile murder case. The scientific data directly contradicted his alibi regarding the timing and circumstances of the victim’s death.

P Renuka Devi, who headed the special investigation team (SIT) that probed the Ankita Bhandari murder case, revealed how astronomical data from Kolkata’s meteorological observatory exposed inconsistencies in Arya’s testimony. The investigation team consulted lunar phase records to verify the accused’s claims about natural lighting conditions on the night of the murder.

Arya, son of expelled BJP leader and former minister Vinod Arya, had maintained that the 19-year-old receptionist accidentally fell into a barrage around 9 PM. He claimed sufficient natural light allowed him and his associates to witness the incident and attempt rescue efforts.

“To verify this claim, we contacted the meteorological observatory in Kolkata, which confirmed the moon rose only around 11 PM in that area,” Devi told TOI. She emphasized that Arya’s assertion about natural visibility was scientifically impossible since “it was pitch dark at 9 PM.”

The SIT determined that visibility would have required artificial lighting, such as mobile phone torches, in the jungle area near the barrage. This technical evidence proved pivotal in establishing the fabricated nature of the defense’s timeline.

CCTV footage from the barrage provided additional corroborating evidence against the accused’s version of events. The investigation also marked a procedural first when AIIMS Rishikesh doctors conducting the autopsy visited the actual crime scene for enhanced forensic analysis.

Devi, currently serving as Deputy Inspector General with the CBI in Jaipur, highlighted how the multi-disciplinary approach combining meteorological data, surveillance technology, and forensic medicine strengthened the prosecution’s case against Arya and his two associates in this Uttarakhand murder conviction.

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