Haridwar, Jan. 9 -- Actress Urmila Sanawar on Thursday appeared before the special investigation team (SIT) in Haridwar, in connection with the 2022 Pauri receptionist murder case, officials aware of the matter said. Sanawar arrived at the Special Operations Group (SOG) office in Ranipur, where she was questioned by a seven-member SIT. Officials said she was being interrogated till the filing of this report, while media personnel were not allowed to enter the SOG premises. Her appearance comes amid heightened political tensions in Uttarakhand over the murder of a young woman from Pauri Garhwal district, who was working as a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort in Yamkeshwar near Rishikesh. Sanawar had earlier released an audio clip of an alleged telephonic conversation between her and former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Suresh Rathore, in which she purportedly claimed the involvement of a senior BJP leader in the case. The 19-year-old receptionist was murdered on September 18, 2022, allegedly by Pulkit Arya, the resort owner and son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, along with his employees Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta. According to the prosecution, the trio pushed the woman into the Chilla canal following a dispute. In May 2025, a Kotdwar court in Pauri Garhwal district sentenced all three accused to life imprisonment. On December 29, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Haridwar Pramendra Dobhal constituted an SIT to probe multiple cases registered against Sanawar, who claims to be the wife of Suresh Rathore. The decision followed the circulation of the viral audio clip, which triggered fresh controversy and political reactions in the state. Police officials said the seven-member SIT has been formed to investigate four different cases registered against Sanawar at various police stations in Haridwar district. City superintendent of police Abhay Kumar Singh has been appointed as the head of the SIT, with officers from Ranipur, Jwalapur, Bahadrabad, Jhabreda and the city police station included in the team. On Tuesday, Sanawar posted a video on Facebook, in which she could be heard saying that she was coming to Uttarakhand from Delhi. "At this moment, I reside in the hearts of the people of Uttarakhand. I am coming for the SIT investigation. Just as people have now taken to the streets demanding justice for the Pauri Garhwal receptionist woman, I felt that the time had come for me to come forward. I have been living in hiding for the past nine days in a gurdwara and rain basera." The state police had been searching for Sanawar ever since she released the audio clip, which purportedly revealed that a BJP leader had pressured the 19-year-old victim into providing "extra services". Sanawar also claimed a threat to her life. Ever since she released the audio clip, protests have been taking place across the state for a central bureau of investigation (CBI) probe into the case to investigate the VIP links in the case. A state-wide bandh has also been called for January 11 if the BJP government doesn't order a CBI probe. The BJP, however, has denied the allegations. On the allegations of the involvement of a senior BJP leader, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had earlier said that the leader's location during those five days (the period of the crime) was outside Uttarakhand. "We all want to know the truth. Police are searching for the woman (Urmila Sanawar) and Suresh Rathore (former BJP MLA). They should come forward and share the truth about the allegations made in the audio and video. The Uttarakhand government is ready for any kind of investigation and no one will be spared. But these audio and video clips are being investigated. The forensic team is looking into them," he said....