Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National General Secretary and Uttarakhand in-charge Dushyant Gautam has filed a plea in the Delhi High Court (HC) in connection with the Ankita Bhandari murder case. In his petition, he has named 11 individuals and organisations, including Urmila Sanawar and Suresh Rathore, as respondents.
The 250-page petition has been filed on Gautam’s behalf by Delhi High Court advocates Simran Barar and Neelmani Guha. Actress Urmila Sanawar and several others have been made parties to the case. Gautam has requested the court to grant an early hearing on the matter.
Those named as respondents include actress Urmila Sanawar, former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, the Indian National Congress, the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee, PCC president Ganesh Godiyal, the Aam Aadmi Party, Congress spokesperson Alok Sharma, and Mohit Chauhan.
The plea also mentions Gautam’s whereabouts during the period linked to the case. As per the filing, he was in New Delhi on September 10, 13, 14 and 15, 2022. He was in Uttar Pradesh on September 16, returned to New Delhi on September 17 and 18, travelled to Odisha on September 19, and came back to New Delhi on September 20, 2022.
On Monday, Gautam rejected all allegations against him and described them as a “well-planned criminal conspiracy” by political rivals such as the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party to damage his reputation and that of the BJP.
He alleged that those involved deliberately created false and fabricated audio and video clips and circulated them widely on social media. According to Gautam, these clips were meant to malign his image, the BJP, and its senior leaders.
Gautam further claimed that the viral audio and video clips were being falsely linked to the Ankita Bhandari murder case. He alleged that BJP leaders were being named in these clips with the intent to defame them and wrongly implicate him. He also said that offensive and objectionable language was used in the material.
He alleged that the circulation of these clips was done in collusion with the Congress party, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, and some other individuals. He claimed the intention was to disturb peace in Uttarakhand and other states, incite unrest and riots, and mentally harass BJP leaders.
Earlier, Uttarakhand Police issued a detailed clarification in the Ankita murder case to present the factual position. The police said misleading information, half-truths and baseless allegations were being spread repeatedly on social media and other platforms.
The Uttarakhand Police have clearly stated that no VIP is involved in the Ankita Bhandari case. They added that this position has also been clearly acknowledged by the court.
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