Ankita Bhandari Murder: BJP Leader Seeks Action Over 'Fake Videos'; Delhi HC To Hear Defamation Suit Today
The viral audio-video clips being linked to murder case of Ankita Bhandari has led to widespread political tension and public protests across Uttarakhand.
Published : January 6, 2026 at 10:18 AM IST
|Updated : January 6, 2026 at 11:07 AM IST
Dehradun: Amid rising protests and political unrest over the sensational murder case of Ankita Bhandari in 2022 in Uttarakhand, BJP National General Secretary and state in-charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam on Monday lodged a complaint with police, alleging conspiracy to defame him and his party using fabricated audio and video clips.
The BJP leader has also filed a defamation suit in the Delhi High Court against Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, the hearing of which is scheduled for Tuesday (January 6). Gautam, in his petition, demanded that the content linking his name to Ankita Bhandari case be removed from all platforms. He has also demanded Rs two crore for causing "damage to his reputation". In his petition, Gautam stated that a video defaming him was uploaded on social media on December 24, 2025, which went viral. Allegedly, the video falsely created a narrative and attempted to defame him by linking him with the murder case. In his petition, he has also stated that during the investigation of the case, the probe agencies never mentioned his name.
Further, the petition states that the campaign being run in the Ankita Bhandari case falls under the category of "fake news", and that it is being used to "gain political advantage".
In his complaint at Dalanwala police station in Dehradun on Monday, Gautam has named former BJP MLA from Haridwar's Jwalapur assembly constituency Suresh Rathore, who was expelled from the party, and his alleged wife Urmila Sanawar. He has also named several political parties, including the Uttarakhand Congress, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, the Aam Aadmi Party, and some unidentified persons.
As per the complaint, Suresh Rathore and Urmila Sanawar allegedly acted under a criminal conspiracy to create and circulate false and fabricated audio and video recordings to defame Gautam and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Gautam has alleged that these audio-video clips linking him to Ankita Bhandari murder case were shared on social media platforms. He claimed that several political parties used these videos to spread misinformation for their own political gain and falsely implicate him in the case.
The complaint also mentioned that the circulation of these videos was aimed at disturbing public peace, inciting riots in Uttarakhand and other states, and carrying out criminal conspiracies.
Gautam has demanded action by police as per law under provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
It is worth mentioning here that the controversy escalated after Urmila Sanawar released a video along with an audio clip in which she made several allegations, including claims involving VIPs. After the video clip spread like wildfire, Dushyant Gautam first came forward and publicly denied the allegations and presented his version. However, as protests continued, he lodged a complaint with police, seeking legal action against Urmila Sanawar, Suresh Rathore, and several political parties.
Ankita Bhandari, a resident of Srikot Dobh in Pauri Garhwal district, was working as a receptionist at Vanantra Resort in Yamkeshwar. On September 18, 2022, she suddenly went missing from the resort. Prime accused in the case Pulkit Arya, owner of the resort, allegedly used to pressurise Ankita to offer "special services" to guests. However, Ankita opposed all this and was reportedly planning to quit her job. It is being said that Pulkit Arya was afraid that Ankita might expose him after leaving the job. On the fateful night of September 18, 2022, Pulkit lured Ankita out of the Resort on some pretext and allegedly killed her by pushing her into the Cheela canal. After committing the crime, Pulkit misled Ankita's family but nearly after a week, Ankita's body was recovered from the Cheela canal. Following investigation, police arrested Pulkit and two other employees of the resort, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta.
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