Actress Urmila Sanawar appears before SIT in 2022 Uttarakhand receptionist murder case

Haridwar: Actress Urmila Sanawar appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in Haridwar on Thursday in connection with the 2022 Uttarakhand receptionist murder case, police said.

This comes a day after the Delhi High Court directed the takedown of social media posts within 24 hours linking Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dushyant Gautam to the murder of Ankita Bhandari, a resort receptionist, in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district.

Sanawar alleged that a “VIP”, who sought sexual favours, was a senior political leader and released a clip in which former BJP legislator Suresh Rathore is purportedly heard naming Gautam and another senior party leader as the alleged VIPs for whom Bhandari was allegedly being forced to provide sexual favours on the night of the murder.

Gautam filed a defamation suit against Sanawar, former BJP lawmaker Suresh Rathore, two political parties, and Uttarakhand Congress chief Ganesh Godiyal for linking him to the murder.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Haridwar Pramendra Dobhal constituted an SIT on December 29 to probe multiple cases registered against Sanawar, who claims to be the wife of Rathore.

Sanawar on Thursday arrived at the Special Operations Group (SOG) office in Ranipur, where she was questioned by a seven-member SIT.

The deceased, a resident of Uttarakhand’s Pauri district, was employed as a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort in Yamkeshwar, Rishikesh. On September 18, 2022, she was murdered by resort owner Pulkit Arya and his two employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta. The three men allegedly pushed her into the Chilla canal following a dispute.

A local court sentenced Arya and the two others to life imprisonment.

Meanwhile, members of civil society, social organisations, and political parties marched towards Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s residence in Dehradun on January 4, demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the murder case. Barricades were erected at Hathibarkala on Sunday, escalating the situation into a confrontation between the protesters and police personnel. The protesters alleged that the government was protecting those accused in the case.