Spokesperson: Shri Ganesh Godiyal, Shri Surender Sharma and Shri Manoj Yadav: Uttarakhand PCC President Shri Ganesh Godiyal referred to a viral video clip in circulation in the state in which a woman identifying herself as the wife of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore has claimed that she possesses audio recordings. He said that the audio links the Ankita Bhandari murder to pressure exerted on the victim to provide “special services” for a senior BJP leader, identified as Gautam, who is the Uttarakhand BJP in-charge, and that the video mentions the senior BJP leader’s name in connection with the case. The Congress today demanded a CBI probe monitored by a serving or a retired Supreme Court judge into the murder of Ankita Bhandari in Uttarakhand following the surfacing of the name of a senior national level BJP leader in the matter. The UKPCC President Shri Godiyal alleged that the resort in which Ankita worked was owned by a BJP leader. He said, from day one of the incident, attempts were made to hush up the matter and protect some “VIP culprits”. He said, for the same reason the particular room which was used by the victim Ankita Bhandari was demolished to show the government’s action against the guilty. But, he said, actually it was an attempt to destroy the evidence by demolishing only that particular room besides setting fire to the bedding and other things.

He said, when questions were raised about the demolition of the particular room, first it was blamed on the local MLA Renu Bisht and later it was said that it was done under the instructions of the Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami. He said, he and other Congress leaders have repeatedly been appealing to the Prime Minister during his visits to Uttarakhand to order the immediate arrest of the VIP culprits involved in the Ankita Bhandari murder case.

Shri Ganesh Godiyal disclosed that the Special Investigation Team which had been constituted by the Uttarakhand government to probe the matter, instead of doing justice with the victim had tried to harass and intimidate a witness, a friend of Ankita who she had sent text messages that she was being asked to offer “different kind of services” and she was feeling threat to her life.

The senior Congress leader issued an ultimatum to the central and the state governments to order a CBI probe within the next 10-12 days, failing which the Congress will come on roads and launch mass agitation and force the government for the CBI probe. Tuesday, December 23, 2025