DEHRADUN, Dec. 27 -- As Uttarakhand witnesses protests over a fresh set of allegations in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, BJP national general secretary Dushyant Gautam who has been allegedly linked to the case on Friday vehemently denied the charges, saying honesty and integrity have been the hallmarks of his political and social life. Fresh allegations surfaced after former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore's wife, Urmila Sanawar, claimed that the VIP who sought sexual favours from Bhandari was a senior leader called "Gattu". She released an audio clip in which Rathore purportedly identifies the VIPs as Gautam and another senior party leader. Rathore later claimed the clip was AI-generated and accused Sanawar of defaming the party. Bhandari was allegedly killed for refusing to render sexual favours by the manager of the Vanantara resort, Pulkit Arya, son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya. The body of the 19-year-old was recovered from a canal in Rishikesh on September 24, 2022 - six days after she was reported missing. Vinod Arya was expelled from the party following the murder in 2022. In the week following the allegations, Sanawar and Rathore were booked in two FIRs in Dehradun and Haridwar under sections of the IT Act and BNS, including criminal intimidation and common intention. On Friday, Gautam, who is also the BJP's state in-charge, said he had sought the removal of videos and other material being circulated online with allegations against him. In a video posted on Facebook, he said: "In my 27 years of social life, there has never been an incident questioning my respect for women and conduct in the party. I am here expressing the sorrow caused due to the actions of people who are trying to defame me". Gautam said the origin of the video and the person who created it should be investigated. "I have written to the Home Secretary regarding this. If there is evidence for every word raised against me, I will resign from social and political life. However, this conspiracy by taking our daughter's name time and again and disrespecting her is a humiliation for our daughters and mothers. This attempt to malign me will be met with action," he said.
The allegations have drawn mixed reactions within the state BJP. While former chief minister and Lok Sabha MP Trivendra Singh Rawat said no one should go unpunished if the allegations are true, BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt accused the Congress of insulting Bhandari. On the names mentioned in the audio clip, Rawat said that even if the accused was someone close to him, they should not be spared. "No matter how powerful the accused is, they should not be forgiven," he said. As Congress took up the issue, accusing the BJP of remaining silent and demanding a CBI probe, Bhatt said the Congress had crossed all limits in defaming the victim. "A woman speaks about something, and her voice is used to claim that she said those things. In the Ankita Bhandari case, when the court demanded evidence, the police appealed to everyone to bring any evidence they had to the court. The culprit is now serving a life sentence". He added: "I am today accusing the Congress president of making the kind of allegations he has made, naming our in-charge. We will definitely take action. Congress has continued to target the BJP after the video surfaced. State president Ganesh Godiyal, at a press conference, sought a CBI investigation. Congress leaders questioned why the Dhami government bulldozed the resort before evidence could be collected, accusing the BJP government of shielding influential individuals from the outset. Senior Congress vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana said that while the BJP government and organisation have not issued any statement, Trivendra Singh Rawat has termed the new revelations serious. "The BJP's national leadership must now clarify what action the party is taking regarding Gautam's alleged role as a 'VVIP' in the Ankita Bhandari murder case," he said. Three accused in the murder case were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by a Kotdwar court in May, based on statements of 47 witnesses and a series of WhatsApp chats.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.