Ankita Bhandari murder case: CBI summons journalist, main petitioner for questioning

CBI, in its summon to Ashutosh Negi, said that “there are reasonable grounds to question you to ascertain facts and circumstances from you”

Published on: Oct 27, 2026, 08:13:00 IST

By Neeraj Chauhan

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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Ashutosh Negi, an Uttarakhand-based journalist and petitioner in Ankita Bhandari murder case, asking him to appear before it in Delhi on Tuesday, people familiar with the development said.

People stage a candlelight protest demanding justice for the 2022 murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari in Uttarakhand. (PTI photo)

Negi, editor of Jago Uttarakhand , termed the summons as harassment.

“Instead of questioning the VIPs involved, CBI is questioning the people who want justice in Ankita Bhandari’s murder,” he told HT, while adding that he had arrived in Delhi and will reach CBI headquarters on Tuesday morning.

CBI, in its summon to Negi, said that “there are reasonable grounds to question you to ascertain facts and circumstances from you”.

Also Read: Ankita Bhandari murder case: CBI team in Saharanpur to question Urmila Sanawar

It was Negi who had been pursuing since 2022 for a CBI probe into the murder of Bhandari. Interestingly, he was arrested by Uttarakhand police in March 2024 for his reporting on the murder investigation. He was granted bail later.

Ankita Bhandari worked at the Vanantra resort in Pauri Garhwal. She went missing on September 18, 2022, barely three weeks into the job, and her body was recovered from a canal days later. The case set off protests across Uttarakhand and sustained public anger over how the early investigation was handled.

Under pressure, the chief minister Pushkar Dhami-led government eventually ordered a CBI probe in the incident in January this year.

The family has sought a thorough investigation into the alleged involvement of a VIP in Ankita’s murder. The demand for a fresh investigation into the alleged VIP angle gained momentum after actress Urmila Sanawar, who claims to be the wife of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, released an audio clip purportedly containing a telephone conversation between the two.

Also Read: Ankita Bhandari’s parents seek narco test on former BJP MLA

In the recording, Rathore allegedly referred to the involvement of a BJP leader in the case. The clip triggered protests across Uttarakhand, with demonstrators demanding a CBI probe into the alleged role of the unidentified VIP.

Prior to the CBI takeover, Uttarakhand police conducted an investigation in the case and arrested three accused persons.

Also Read:Rahul slams Govt over 4am detention of Ankita Bhandari’s parents at India Gate

On May 30, 2025, the additional district and sessions court in Kotdwar convicted the three accused, identified as Pulkit Arya, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, and sentenced them to rigorous life imprisonment.

A CBI team has recently stationed itself in Uttarakhand and has started questioning all connected persons.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Chauhan
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.Read More

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