CBI summons journalist and key petitioner Ashutosh Negi in Ankita Bhandari murder case

The Central Bureau of Investigation has summoned Ashutosh Negi, an Uttarakhand-based journalist and petitioner in the Ankita Bhandari murder case, to appear in Delhi on Tuesday. Negi, who edits Jago Uttarakhand, called the summons harassment and said the agency is questioning people who want justice instead of probing the VIPs involved. In its notice, the CBI stated there are reasonable grounds to question him to find out facts and circumstances. Negi has been pushing for a CBI probe since 2022 and was previously arrested by Uttarakhand police in March 2024 for his reporting before being granted bail.

Background

Ankita Bhandari worked at the Vanantra resort in Pauri Garhwal and went missing on September 18, 2022, just three weeks after starting her job. Her body was later found in a canal, sparking massive protests across Uttarakhand over the early police handling of the case. Under public pressure, the government led by Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami ordered a CBI investigation in January. A Kotdwar court previously sentenced three accused men named Pulkit Arya, Saurabh Bhaskar, and Ankit Gupta to life imprisonment in May 2025 following an initial police probe.