Actress Urmila Sanawar Arrested Over Rs 5 Crore Extortion Plot
Haridwar police arrest actress Urmila Sanawar over allegations of Rs 5 crore extortion and derogatory social media posts.
In a shocking turn of events, the Ranipur Kotwali police in Haridwar have arrested actress Urmila Sanawar from her home in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The actress faces serious allegations involving the extortion of a massive sum of money and the use of derogatory language on social media platforms.
The Allegations: Extortion and Threats
The legal trouble began after Deepika Rathore, the daughter of former MLA Suresh Rathore, filed a formal First Information Report (FIR) at the Ranipur Kotwali police station on the night of October 24. According to the complaint, Urmila Sanawar had been pressuring the family to transfer the 'Ravidas Peeth' into her own name.
When the family refused to comply with this demand, the situation allegedly escalated. The complainant states that Sanawar then demanded an extortion payment of Rs 5 crore. To ensure the payment, the actress reportedly threatened to kill the family members and vowed to leak private photos and videos on social media to tarnish their reputation.
Police Action and Criminal History
Given the sensitivity of the accusations, the Haridwar SSP formed a specialized team to track down the actress. This team successfully apprehended Sanawar at her residence in Saharanpur. Deepak Singh, Haridwar SP City, confirmed that the arrest was made following the complaint regarding obscene remarks, damage to the family's reputation, and the attempt to seize the Ravidas Dham property through extortion.
The investigation has revealed that this is not the first time the actress has been in legal trouble. Police officials disclosed that nine previous cases had already been registered against Urmila Sanawar. Following her arrest, she was produced before a magistrate to be placed in judicial custody.
CBI Probe and the Ankita Bhandari Connection
While the extortion case is a fresh development, Sanawar is already embroiled in another high-profile investigation. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has served her a formal notice to appear for a narco-analysis test. This is linked to a viral audio clip associated with the murder of Ankita Bhandari, a resort receptionist who was killed near Rishikesh in September 2022.
Sanawar revealed that after a four-hour preliminary questioning session on October 18, a CBI team visited her home to serve the notice. The notice requires her to appear to provide voluntary consent for the narcotics examination, a move aimed at uncovering the truth behind the audio clip and the alleged involvement of "VIPs" in the Bhandari murder case.
The Ankita Bhandari case has remained a point of significant controversy in Uttarakhand, recently resurfacing in public discourse following the appointment of former BJP Uttarakhand in-charge Dushyant Gautam as the Governor of Sikkim.