Dehradun, Oct. 16 -- The parents of the murdered Pauri Garhwal receptionist girl staging a protest at India Gate in New Delhi against the appointment of Dushyant Gautam as Sikkim governor has once again put the spotlight on a case that has dominated Uttarakhand politics since September 2022. The parents were detained at 4 am on Thursday and released later. Earlier on Wednesday evening, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi met the parents near India Gate and joined them their protest. The parents have demanded that the role of Gautam, who served as the BJP's Uttarakhand in-charge from November 2020 to August 2026, be examined in the case after actress Urmila Sanawar, who claims to be former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore's wife, released an audio clip of an alleged telephonic conversation with Rathore in December last year in which he purportedly revealed that a BJP leader was involved in the case. The 19-year-old deceased girl, a resident of Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal district, was employed as a receptionist at the Vanantra Resort in Yamkeshwar, Rishikesh. On September 18, 2022, she was murdered by resort owner Pulkit Arya, son of expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya, and his two employees, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta, for allegedly refusing to provide "extra services" to resort guests. The three accused were subsequently arrested on September 23 and allegedly confessed to the murder after which her body was recovered from the Chilla canal in Rishikesh. In March 2023, a local court in Kotdwar framed charges against the three accused under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the IPC, and section 5 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, which deals with "procuring, inducing or taking a person for the sake of prostitution". The key accused, Pulkit Arya, was also charged under section 354A (sexual harassment) of the IPC. On December 19, 2022, the special investigation team (SIT) submitted the charge sheet against the three accused. The 500-page charge sheet contained statements of 100 witnesses and 30 pieces of documentary evidence. It also contained statements of 100 witnesses. A court in Kotdwar on May 30, 2025, sentenced the main accused Pulkit Arya and two co-accused, Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit alias Pulkit Gupta, to rigorous life imprisonment. The court found Pulkit Arya guilty under sections 354A, 302, and 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along with Section 5(1)(d) of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. Co-accused Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit alias Pulkit Gupta were convicted under Sections 302 and 201 of the IPC, and Section 5(1)(d) of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. The three subsequently challenged the trial court's verdict before the High Court on July 3, 2025 In December 2025, actress Urmila Sanawar posted a video on Facebook sharing audio recordings that alleged a "VIP" connection to the Pauri receptionist girl murder case. Former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, who was heard or named in the audio clips, dismissed the recording as AI-generated. In January this year, chief minister Dhami dismissed attempts to create what he described as an unnecessary atmosphere in the state on the basis of a purported audio clip. . Later that month (December 2025), Haridwar Police formed a SIT to investigate the authenticity of the audio. Amid the controversy, the father of the murdered Pauri receptionist girl wrote a letter to chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in the first week of January, seeking a CBI investigation into allegations that a "VIP" was involved in the case. The father told HT at the time: "I want a CBI investigation under the monitoring of a Supreme Court judge into the matter so that the guilty can be punished." Subsequently on January 10, state police registered a fresh FIR in the case over allegations of VIP involvement on the complaint of Padma Bhushan awardee environmentalist Dr Anil Prakash Joshi, founder of the HESCO. On January 11, the state government also ordered a CBI probe into the matter. On February 2 this year, CBI registered an FIR against an unknown person in the case to probe allegations of the involvement of a VIP. However, Gautam has not been named as an accused in any of the cases in connection with the Pauri Garhwal receptionist murder. Instead, Gautam had filed a case against former BJP MLA Suresh Rathore, actress Urmila Sanawar, who claims to be Rathore's wife, the Uttarakhand unit of the Congress, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and other unidentified individuals over allegations linking him to the Pauri Garhwal receptionist murder case. On August 19, 2026, the Uttarakhand High Court rejected the bail applications of all three convicts. The counsel for the three accused had argued that they were innocent and had been falsely implicated by the prosecution. The defence questioned the evidence presented against them and contended that several aspects of the prosecution's case were flawed. In particular, the defence raised questions over the verification and evidentiary value of WhatsApp messages and call-detail records relied upon by the prosecution. According to August 19, 2026 order, "During investigation, it was revealed that, in fact, the appellants were molesting the deceased and were pressurizing her to indulge into the immoral activities. They were pressurizing her to give extra service to a guest of the resort, to which, the deceased was not agreeable. The appellants realized that perhaps the deceased may reveal the truth some day. Therefore, according to the prosecution, on 18.09.2022, the appellants took the deceased out from the resort, they killed her and threw her in a canal". The court added, "As per prosecution the appellants (three accused) killed her and the appellant Pulkit Arya lodged a missing report on the next day so as to give a cover to their misdeeds"...