New Delhi, Oct 27 — The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Ashutosh Negi, a Uttarakhand-based journalist and petitioner in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, for questioning on Tuesday in New Delhi, sources said.
Negi is asked to appear before the CBI Headquarters in New Delhi at 10:30 a.m.
The journalist had been pushing for a CBI probe into the high-profile murder case.
In March 2024, Negi was also arrested by the Uttarakhand Police for his reporting on the case; however, he was later granted bail.
Earlier this month, a four-member CBI team, including a woman officer, questioned Urmila Sanawar, the alleged wife of former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur.
On Monday, the Uttarakhand Police arrested Sanawar from her Saharanpur residence in connection with a separate FIR regarding alleged defamatory remarks made about a former BJP MLA. This happened a day before she was to be produced before a CBI court in connection with the Bhandari murder case.
Sanawar had earlier participated in a press conference in New Delhi, alongside Bhandari's parents. Through a video message, she had also demanded that the CBI must interrogate her in the presence of the media since the investigation is not happening under the watch of a sitting Supreme Court judge.
This came a day after the CBI questioned former BJP MLA Rathore at the Shivalik Guest House in Uttarakhand's Haridwar.
The CBI took over the probe into the Ankita Bhandari murder case in February this year. Its Delhi-based Special Crime Branch had registered a case against an "unknown VIP" in connection with the matter.
The murder of Bhandari, a 19-year-old receptionist, sparked widespread outrage across Uttarakhand in 2022. She was working as a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort when she was murdered on September 18, 2022. Her body was dumped in the Chilla Shakti Canal and recovered nearly a week later.
Following an extensive investigation by a Special Investigation Team, a 500-page charge sheet was filed in the case, naming 97 witnesses, out of whom 47 testified before the court.
The prime accused, Pulkit Arya, the owner of Vanantra Resort, along with co-accused Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Arya was found guilty on multiple serious charges, including murder, tampering with evidence, harassment, and immoral trafficking.