A woman protester said, “This is not a political fight. This is a fight to ensure the safety of our daughters. That’s why everyone should support the bandh.” Bhandari’s home district, Pauri, witnessed a near complete shutdown, where almost all shops remained closed and the number of vehicles on the roads remained low. There was silence in the market areas of Kotdwar, Srinagar and Pauri. In the border district of Chamoli, jeeps and taxis made for local traffic were completely off the roads.

Only roadways buses and buses carrying pilgrims to Badrinath and Kedarnath were seen running. Apart from vehicular movement in Pindar Valley of Chamoli district, commercial establishments also remained closed. Ankita, who worked as a receptionist at a resort, was allegedly murdered by resort operator Pulkit Arya along with two of his employees Saurabh NewsBust India and Ankit Gupta by pushing them into the Chila canal near Rishikesh. Ankita had refused to provide ‘extra service’ to the VIP customers of the resort. The accused were arrested on 23 September.

Uttarakhand Kranti Dal President Kashi Singh Airi said that the way the investigation is being done, it shows that there is pressure on the police to save the influential people. Airi said, “CBI investigation is necessary to bring out the truth.” Security has been tightened in the main market areas in view of the bandh with heavy deployment of policemen. The bandh was supported by about 40 political and social organizations, including the Congress, the Communist Party of India (CPI), CPI (ML) and the State Agitating Joint Committee.

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