Silent on CBI probe in Ankita case, CM Dhami says protesters must apologise

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami remains silent on demands for a CBI investigation into the Ankita Bhandari murder case — but he has found his voice in demanding apologies from those who have taken to the streets seeking that very probe.

Dhami has accused protesters of “misleading the people of the state”, even as he maintains that the legal basis of the family’s demands is still being examined.

Meanwhile, action has begun against some participants in the recent demonstrations, with the administration issuing a notice to Haldwani-based video blogger Jyoti Adhikari, who joined the protests carrying a daranti (sickle-like agricultural tool).

To understand the intensity of the current standoff, one has to return to 2022, when the murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari sparked outrage far beyond her native village of Dobh–Shrikot in Pauri Garhwal. The young woman, who worked as a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort near Rishikesh, disappeared on 18 September 2022 and was later found dead in the Chilla Canal.

The resort’s owner Pulkit Arya, along with two employees, was arrested on charges of murder. The case became emblematic not only of violence against women but of the intersection of crime, political influence and administrative opacity. There was public anger over delays in filing the missing complaint, the overnight demolition and burning of parts of the resort — seen by many as the destruction of evidence — and the allegation that a “VIP” had been pressuring Ankita for sexual favours shortly before her death.

Pulkit Arya, whose family had links with the ruling BJP, was eventually convicted alongside two co-accused in 2025 after a lengthy trial, but these convictions did not settle public anxieties about the role of powerful actors in the background.

Those concerns exploded again in late 2025, when leaked audio clips and viral social media posts revived the 'VIP' angle, prompting fresh protests across Uttarakhand and even in Delhi. Protesters demanded that the investigation be taken away from state agencies and handed to the Central Bureau of Investigation, arguing that only a central probe could fully expose whether influential figures had been shielded.

Demonstrations intensified outside the chief minister’s residence, candles were lit in Ankita’s memory, slogans for justice rang through Dehradun and Haridwar, and civil society groups alleged that the state government was trying to bury uncomfortable truths. The Congress and the CPI(ML), among others, endorsed the demand for a CBI probe, while the state BJP accused its opponents of politicising a tragedy.

It was against this backdrop that, on 7 January, Dhami quietly summoned Ankita’s parents to Dehradun. The meeting was not publicly disclosed until after it had concluded. During the discussion, Ankita’s family placed three demands before Dhami: that any CBI probe be conducted under the supervision of a sitting Supreme Court judge; that the scope of investigation extend beyond what state agencies have already examined; and that the state government arrest the 'VIP' whose alleged involvement they hold responsible for Ankita’s death.

CPI(ML) state secretary Indresh Maikhuri argues that the chief minister’s own words have now cornered him. “Dhami himself said he would speak to Ankita’s family before taking a decision, so now he should order a CBI probe,” Maikhuri says.

But he is sceptical, noting that the government has yet to deliver on two promises made soon after the murder: a government job for Ankita’s brother, and the renaming of the Dobh–Shrikot nursing college after her. “Neither has been done,” he says. “Which raises the question: how serious is the chief minister about a CBI investigation?”

Social activist Charu Tiwari questions not only Dhami’s silence but his intentions. He points to the sudden appearance of a controversial godman — known in Uttarakhand for communal rhetoric — with Urmila Sanawar, a woman alleged to be the wife of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore.

It was a viral audio clip of Sanawar's private conversation with her 'husband' which reignited public speculation about a VIP’s involvement. “It is fascinating,” Tiwari says, “that the woman whom the chief minister’s police and administration could not locate was traced by a so-called baba.”

He also notes that this baba met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval during this period, asking what really lies beneath these coincidences. “And all this was happening while the chief minister held a press conference saying he would speak to Ankita’s family and then decide on a CBI probe.”

Tiwari warns that until Dhami takes a definitive decision, “society will remain on the streets. The cry for justice will remain loud, because it is people linked to the BJP who have given shape to the public’s suspicion”. According to him, it is the state government’s responsibility to make the truth transparent regarding the role of the alleged VIP.

Maikhuri concurs: “The public fought this entire battle for Ankita. For three years they protested, stood outside the court, demanded justice. The state government and the BJP should not assume they can now throw dust in the public’s eyes.”