Ex BJP MLA Suresh Rathore interrogated by the CBI in connection with the VIP matter in Ankita Bhandari case
The CBI investigation in the Ankita Bhandari murder case took a curious and sudden turn on Saturday when CBI sleuths raided the Haridwar residence of former Haridwar MLA Suresh Rathore and took him for questioning to recover material important to the probe including his mobile phone.
According to officials, a CBI team reached Rathore’s residence this morning and then took him to the BHEL Guest House, also referred to as Shivalik Guest House in Haridwar, for interrogation. Around three CBI teams are conducting investigations at different locations in Haridwar as part of the probe. The agency has not yet issued an official statement on the details of the questioning.
This sudden activeness comes just two three days after Ankita’s parents – father Virendra Singh Bhandari and mother Soni Devi sat on a dharna at India Gate and hundreds of Congressmen along with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi protested vigorously and thereafter Garhwal MP Anil Baluni and the parents met the two senior most officers of CBI investigation in Delhi, Special Directors Manoj Shashidhar and Sampat Meena, and Director, and presented a memorandum demanding narco tests on Rathore and others to bring out the actual truth about the VIP, who remains mysterious and elusive till date and who the family alleges is the prime culprit behind the brutal murder.
The family has been demanding that former MLA Rathore, present Yamkeshwar MLA Renu Bisht who had allegedly brought the bulldozer and got the room in Vanantra resort demolished with the aim to destroy evidence, and actress Urmila Sanawar be subjected to narco tests to reveal the identity of the VIP.
According to reports, the action is based on new facts that have emerged recently. Last December, after a video of actress Urmila Sanawar surfaced, an audio clip purportedly of former MLA Suresh Rathore went viral on social media.
This audio clip allegedly discussed VIP connections and also implicated a senior leader, naming Dushyant Kumar Gautam and Ajay Kumar. Based on this information, the CBI is now attempting to delve deeper into the matter.
After nearly three hours of questioning, Rathore told media that he has extended full cooperation to the investigation. “I cooperated with the investigation – nothing more, nothing less. I have shared everything relevant to the investigation and will continue to do so. As for Urmila Sanawar, I know nothing about her. I have no idea who she is,” he said.
The main accused in the case – resort owner Pulkit Arya and two employees Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta – were convicted and sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment on May 30, 2025 by the Kotdwar court. The CBI has now registered a separate case against unknown persons to probe the alleged role of a VIP.
