Has Uttarakhand turned into a ‘surveillance state’?

S.M.A. KAZMI

Dehradun, Oct 20

The suspension of a Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) inspector in Pauri Garhwal district over an alleged intelligence failure to report the departure of Ankita Bhandari’s parents for New Delhi, where they protested against the appointment of Dushyant Kumar Gautam as Sikkim Governor, has raised a pertinent question: has Uttarakhand become a surveillance state where even the victims are kept under watch?

Ankita Bhandari’s parents travelled from their native village in Pauri Garhwal district to New Delhi on October 18 to protest against Gautam’s appointment as Governor of Sikkim. They staged a sit-in at India Gate, demanding action against the alleged ‘VIP’ whom, they claim, was responsible for the circumstances leading to their daughter’s murder by a resort owner and his accomplices three years ago near Rishikesh. They allege that Gautam, who earlier served as the BJP’s general secretary in charge of Uttarakhand, is the ‘VIP’ in question.

Three accused in the Ankita Bhandari murder case have already been convicted and sentenced by a court and are serving their prison terms. However, the controversy surrounding the alleged ‘VIP’ resurfaced last year when Urmila Sanawar, wife of former BJP legislator Suresh Rathore, created a sensation by claiming that the person for whom Ankita had allegedly been asked to provide ‘special services’ was a senior BJP leader known as “Gattu”. Gautam was reportedly known by that name in BJP circles.

Following the uproar, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered a CBI inquiry in February 2026. However, no significant progress in the investigation into the alleged ‘VIP’ angle was apparent until Ankita’s parents travelled to New Delhi to stage their protest.

Their presence amid protests by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and the Congress against the Chief Election Commissioner further intensified the politically charged atmosphere, much to the embarrassment of the ruling BJP-RSS establishment. The arrival of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, to express solidarity with Ankita’s parents brought the issue into the national spotlight.

The controversy reverberated across Uttarakhand, where the police suspended Sardev Singh, the LIU inspector in charge in Pauri, over an alleged failure to report the parents’ departure for the national capital. Although no specific reason for the suspension was officially disclosed, the timing of the action raised questions about whether the parents’ movements had been under surveillance.

The central question, however, remains: should the movements of victims and their families be monitored in a democratic society? Ankita’s parents are ordinary villagers seeking answers and justice for their daughter. The inspector’s suspension has fuelled concerns about the extent to which the authorities were monitoring their activities and, more importantly, who had ordered such monitoring, if any.

The episode also raises broader questions about citizens’ right to privacy and their constitutional freedoms. If the police were keeping track of the parents’ movements, was this routine intelligence gathering, or was there a specific directive to monitor them? The circumstances surrounding the suspension have yet to provide clear answers.

It was also reported that a police team from Pauri Garhwal travelled to Delhi and took Ankita’s parents to meet Pauri Garhwal MP Anil Baluni, who subsequently arranged a meeting for them with a CBI official. The CBI’s decision to issue a press statement and release a photograph of the meeting was also unusual.

This development came against the backdrop of several protests and demonstrations across Uttarakhand over the past eight months, including demonstrations outside the CBI office in Dehradun, demanding an investigation into the alleged role of a ‘VIP’ in the murder case. Despite these protests, the investigation had not yielded any publicly evident breakthrough on this aspect of the case.

Soon after the meeting, a Delhi-based CBI team visited Sanawar’s residence in Saharanpur on Sunday to question her, but she was reportedly not present. The visit came a day after the agency questioned former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore at the Shivalik Guest House in Haridwar.

Sanawar had recently appeared at a press conference in New Delhi alongside Ankita’s parents, demanding that the CBI question her in the presence of the media.