Actor Urmila Sanawar Ordered to Undergo Narco-Analysis and Polygraph Examinations in Connection with Ankita Bhandari Murder Case

A Dehradun court has ordered actor Urmila Sanawar to undergo narco-analysis and polygraph examinations as part of the investigation into an audio recording in which a purported conversation refers to a “VIP” in connection with the 2022 murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari. The tests are to be conducted in Gandhinagar , Gujarat. While the date for the polygraph examination is yet to be fixed, Sanawar appeared before the court on Friday and is expected to undergo a medical examination before being taken to Gujarat. The court’s order comes amid renewed scrutiny of recordings released by Sanawar in December 2025, in which she claimed a politically influential person was linked to the murder. Sanawar has identified Dushyant Kumar Gautam, the current Governor of Sikkim, as the alleged VIP. Gautam has denied the allegations and accused Sanawar and others of circulating fabricated recordings to damage his reputation. Ankita Bhandari, a 19-year-old receptionist at the Vanantra Resort in Rishikesh, was murdered on September 18, 2022. Her body was recovered from the Chilla canal on September 24. The resort was owned by Pulkit Arya, son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya. According to the prosecution, Pulkit and his two employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, killed Bhandari after she resisted pressure to provide “special services” to guests at the resort. All three were convicted by a Pauri court in May 2025 and sentenced to life imprisonment. The case had triggered widespread protests across Uttarakhand, with questions raised over the initial handling of Bhandari’s disappearance by the local revenue police, the demolition of part of the resort and demands for an independent investigation. The controversy over an alleged VIP’s involvement resurfaced after Sanawar released audio and video recordings in December 2025, purportedly featuring a conversation with former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore. Sanawar claimed that the recordings referred to a politically influential person connected to the case. The issue returned to the political spotlight after Gautam, who had previously served as the BJP’s in-charge for Uttarakhand, was appointed Governor of Sikkim. Sanawar subsequently identified him as the person she claimed was being referred to as the VIP in the recordings. Gautam has initiated legal proceedings over what he described as defamatory allegations. In October 2026, the CBI issued notices to Sanawar and Rathore seeking their consent for narco-analysis and polygraph examinations as part of its investigation into the recordings. Both appeared before a special CBI court on October 23 and agreed to undergo the proposed tests. However, Sanawar was arrested by Uttarakhand Police in Saharanpur on October 25, a day before she was scheduled to appear before the CBI court again. The arrest followed a separate FIR registered in Haridwar on a complaint by Deepika Rathore, daughter of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore. She alleged that Sanawar had circulated defamatory and objectionable material and made threats against her family. Sanawar was subsequently released from Haridwar’s Roshanabad jail shortly before Diwali. The Indian Express had reported on October 28 that Sanawar was facing at least eight FIRs, six of which were registered after the release of the recordings in December 2025. The Uttarakhand High Court, in an order dated June 3, 2026, had declined to quash some of the cases while quashing two others that it found substantially overlapped with an earlier complaint.