Fresh allegations by Urmila Sanawar naming senior BJP leader Dushyant Kumar Gautam as the unidentified “VIP” in the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder have reignited political tensions, protests and police action across Uttarakhand.
X/Dushyant Kumar Gautam
Key Points
Congress has demanded the arrest of BJP Rajya Sabha MP Dushyant Kumar Gautam after actor Urmila Sanawar publicly named him as the “VIP” in the Ankita Bhandari murder case.
Sanawar claims police are pursuing her to suppress evidence, while Uttarakhand Police say she is evading multiple notices and faces arrest if she fails to cooperate.
The Uttarakhand government insists courts have upheld the SIT probe and convictions, while residents and civil society organisations demand a CBI inquiry.
The murder of Ankita Bhandari, a 19 year old receptionist whose death in 2022 sparked statewide outrage, has once again returned to the centre of Uttarakhand’s political and public discourse. Television actor Urmila Sanawar, on 24 December 2025, accused a senior BJP leader as the previously unidentified “VIP” linked to the case. She later revealed the accused ‘Gattu’ to be BJP National General Secretary and Uttarakhand in-charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam.
The controversy has escalated rapidly, drawing in the ruling BJP, the Congress, state police, and civil society, triggering protests, counter allegations and renewed scrutiny of how the investigation was handled. This is as the government reiterates that the case has already...
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