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

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dushyant Gautam filed defamation suit against Sanawar, former BJP lawmaker Suresh Rathore among others for linking him to the murder

Published on: Jan 8, 2026, 18:00:26 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi

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Haridwar: Actor Urmila Sanawar on Thursday appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted in connection with social media posts linking a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader to the 2022 Pauri Garhwal receptionist murder case.

ctress Urmila Sanawar appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in Haridwar on Thursday.

This comes a day after the Delhi High Court directed the takedown of social media posts within 24 hours linking BJP leader Dushyant Gautam to the murder of Ankita Bhandari, a resort receptionist, in Uttarakhand.

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 in Haridwar , 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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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