New Delhi: The Uttarakhand police have summoned a TV actress who has accused BJP national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam of being the “mystery VIP” linked to the high-profile murder of a receptionist at a resort near Haridwar in 2022, The Telegraph reported.A notice was plastered on the door of the locked Saharanpur home of the actress, Urmila Sanawar, asking her to appear at Jwalapur police station in Haridwar to have her statement recorded.According to the report, Sanawar is believed to have moved to an undisclosed location after posting several videos alleging the 19-year-old receptionist was murdered because she refused to provide “special services” to the BJP leader, who is also the party minder for Uttarakhand.The incidentAnkita Bhandari, a 19-year-old receptionist at the Vanantara resort, in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, was killed and thrown into a canal in September 2022. The murder had made national headlines due to the hotel’s questionable management and the alleged involvement of a politically influential ‘VIP’ in alleged sex coercion.During the probe, one of the victim’s friends reported to the police the possibility that Bhandari was murdered because she refused coercive demands to “entertain” a VIP guest. However, in spite of being reported widely, the “VIP” angle wasn’t mentioned in the chargesheet.In May 2025, a district court in Kotdwar convicted Pulkit Arya, the son of then BJP leader and resort owner Vinod Arya, along with his two assistants Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta. All three of them are serving life term for the murder. Vinod Arya has since been suspended from the party.Following the fresh allegations by the actress, the Uttarakhand government formed a seven-member special investigation team (SIT) “to probe the entire case”.Also read: Uttarakhand: Fact-Finding Team Alleges Cover Up in Police Probe of Ankita Bhandari MurderWhere things standIt is unclear if any case was registered against Gautam, who reportedly contacted the state’s BJP chief minister after the allegations, professed innocence and demanded recovery of the “evidence” she claims to possess.According to news agency PTI, Gautam has urged the Uttarakhand government to order the removal of certain audio and video content on social media implicating him in the Ankita Bhandari murder case. In a letter to Uttarakhand home secretary Shailesh Bagoli on December 25, he alleged that it is an attempt to malign his image.“I request you to instruct the social media platforms and news channels involved to remove such material and prevent the dissemination of such material directly or indirectly,” he wrote.Also read: Ankita Bhandari Murder Case: Congress Seeks Arrest of BJP MP Dushyant Kumar GautamAt the same time, four cases, including blackmail and defamation, have been registered against Urmila Sanawar at four police stations in Haridwar, with all four complainants linked to the BJP.One of the complainants against Sanawar, Dharmendra Kumar, is the state president of the Sant Shiromani Guru Ravidas Vishwa Mahapeeth. Speaking to reporters, he said, “She has made false allegations against Dushyant Gautam, international president of the Mahapeeth.”Gautam has threatened a defamation suit against Sanawar but is yet to file one.Meanwhile, the primary opposition party, Congress, has demanded his arrest, and has picked the allegation as one in which the senior BJP leader used his influence to bury his name during the investigation.‘They might get me killed’In a video posted on December 28, angry and in tears, Sanawar alleged that the police might “get her killed” and that the force was “hunting” for her instead of arresting Gautam. “The police will arrest me and get me killed instead of arresting him,” she claimed, adding that instead of protecting, the police was trying to silence her since her video allegations went viral. According to The Telegraph, last month, Sanawar had alleged that BJP leader and former Jwalapur MLA Suresh Rathore had “married” her four years ago without revealing he already had a wife.The actress, who has now left Rathore, claimed it was the ex-MLA who had revealed to her that Gautam was the “mystery VIP” linked to the receptionist’s murder.“She is not my wife but is blackmailing me…. I have already given her Rs 50 lakh,” Rathore told reporters.However, he was suspended from the party last week after Sanawar’s public claims.The police have also served a notice on Rathore asking him to appear at Jwalapur police station to have his statement recorded. His wife Ravindra Kaur, however, met police officers on December 30. She claimed that her husband’s life was in danger and has demanded security.Haridwar senior superintendent of police Pramendra Singh Dobal stated, “The seven-member SIT will probe the entire case impartially.” However, he did not specify whether Gautam was being probed.