New Delhi: Two fresh FIRs have been lodged in Uttarakhand after audio and video clips surfaced alleging BJP national general secretary and state in-charge Dushyant Gautam’s link to the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case.
Ankita Bhandari, 19, was working as a receptionist at a Rishikesh resort at the time of her death. Pulkit Arya, the resort’s owner and son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, is serving a life term for her murder. During the trial, Ankita’s friends and colleagues told the court she was being pressured to provide “extra services” to VIPs and refused to do so.
Both the new FIRs—lodged in Dehradun and Haridwar—name Suresh Rathore, a former BJP MLA from Haridwar’s Jwalapur constituency, and his estranged partner, Saharanpur-based actor Urmila Sanawar. Dushyant Gautam, in the clips made public by Urmila, was purportedly identified by Rathore as the “VIP” at the resort where Ankita Bhandari used to work and was asked to “provide service”.
Gautam has written to the Uttarakhand home secretary seeking action against certain social media accounts for spreading “misleading and malicious propaganda” against him. He has said he will retire from public life if the allegations are proven.
The new allegations have triggered a political controversy in Uttarakhand, with Congress state chief Ganesh Godiyal demanding a Supreme Court-monitored probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into Gautam’s alleged role.
Rathore has sought to distance himself from the controversy, claiming that the clips were AI-generated. In June, the BJP had expelled Rathore from the party for six years after the backlash following his public admission of his illicit relationship with Urmila.
Unanswered questions
Hours after the Uttarakhand police arrested Pulkit Arya in September 2022, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had ordered the demolition of the Vanatara resort, the primary crime scene in the case.
This, according to the opposition Congress, was hastily done to remove evidence related to the case that had rocked Uttarakhand.
The police could not recover Ankita’s mobile phone, which was allegedly used to send WhatsApp messages to her friends, including one referring to a “VIP visiting the resort”.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the BJP government never probed this allegation in detail made by Ankita’s friends, a point that has become a source of controversy in Uttarakhand.
Around a week ago, an audio clip of a conversation, purportedly between Urmila and Rathore, was shared widely on social media. Subsequently, Urmila came out with a video clip making the sensational claim that the “VIP” on the fateful night was none other than Gautam.
ThePrint contacted Gautam for comment, who said: “Throughout my public and personal life, I have always considered the respect and rights of every person as paramount and have especially made the respect of mothers and sisters a top priority, and have remained firm on the same value.”
He said “anti-social and criminal elements” were trying to tarnish his image due to “political hatred”, adding that he would be pursuing legal action.
The two FIRs
While the Haridwar FIR was lodged on a complaint by Dharmendra Kumar, an office-bearer associated with the Shiromani Guru Ravidas Vishva Mahapeeth, the other FIR was based on the complaint of a former woman zila panchayat member from Yamkeshwar.
Aarti Gaur, the complainant in the Dehradun FIR, approached the police alleging that Urmila was defaming her by linking her with the Ankita Bhandari case.
“Urmila Sanawar, a resident of Govind Nagar, Saharanpur, on her Facebook page, is continuously defaming me by posting false audio recordings and is using obscene words. She has posted an audio on Facebook in which she and Suresh Rathore argue and use obscene words, abuse and try to defame me by linking my name with different political individuals,” Gaur wrote in her police complaint.
In the past, she alleged, Urmila filed a false case under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against her. Urmila, she added, has been demanding money and was threatening to frame her in the Ankita Bhandari case if she failed to give in to her demands.
Based on her complaint, the Dehradun Police booked Urmila and Rathore on 24 December under Sections 67 of the IT Act and 308(7), 351 (2), 352, and 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Wednesday.
Hours later, the Haridwar Police booked the duo under Sections 248(b), 3(5), and 336(4) of the BNS following the complaint from Dharmendra Kumar.
In the police complaint, Kumar alleged that Rathore and Urmila were making false statements to tarnish Dushyant Gautam’s image, which has “deeply hurt the Ravidas community” as he was an important personality in their community.
“Suresh Rathore harbours resentment towards Gautam to establish his dominance in the Ravidas Peeth. The false and baseless allegations have created an atmosphere of animosity and widespread anger among the entire Ravidas community,” Kumar wrote in the complaint.
“These two individuals (read, Urmila and Rathore) are creating and circulating false videos, which are damaging Dushyant Kumar’s reputation,” the police complaint read.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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