Uttarakhand police seek documents from CBI over fresh rape allegations against Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat

According to a Hindustan Times report, a 39-year-old woman from Assam has made fresh allegations of rape against Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat, following which the Uttarakhand police wrote to Delhi Police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking documents related to the cases of 2016 and 2003. The Uttarakhand police have initiated an investigation into the matter and appointed police officer Vandana Verma as the investigating officer.

In this matter, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma met the complainant woman this week and extended his support to her. The woman had submitted a new complaint to the Uttarakhand police on 5 November, demanding a new DNA test to obtain legal rights and paternity recognition for her 23-year-old son. Police officer Vandana Verma stated that while initiating the process of gathering evidence, they will obtain information from the previous CBI and Delhi Police investigations. Since there is a need to connect the dots, it may take some time, and they will also record the complainant's statement.

Reacting to the matter, Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat termed all these allegations as a political conspiracy by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said this has been done ahead of the assembly elections and to divert attention from the 2022 Pauri Garhwal receptionist murder case. Rawat claimed that he had already received a clean chit during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led central government in 2003, and Delhi Police had also closed the 2016 case by submitting a final report after finding the allegations to be untrue. At that time, the woman had also filed a complaint in 2003 that Rawat was the father of her child, which forced him to resign from the post of Uttarakhand minister. However, after the DNA test came out negative, the CBI filed a closure report and acquitted Rawat.

Giving a statement on Monday, Harak Singh Rawat stated that he does not trust investigative agencies like the CBI under the current regime because they can manipulate DNA tests. He added that if a court-monitored DNA test is ordered, he is fully prepared for it and if even a single allegation is proven, he will take retirement from politics. Citing hospital records, he claimed that the name of another person was listed as the father of the woman's son. Rawat questioned whose responsibility it would be if he is proven innocent.

The past background associated with this controversy is also a topic of discussion in Uttarakhand's politics. A 19-year-old girl working as a receptionist at the Vantara resort near Rishikesh was murdered in September 2022 by resort owner Pulkit Arya and his two employees Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta. In May 2025, a trial court convicted all three and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The matter came into further discussion following the parents' allegations regarding the involvement of a 'VIP' in this murder case. Actress Urmila Sanawar had released an audio recording in which the name of Dushyant Gautam, the then BJP in-charge of Uttarakhand, was allegedly linked. After this audio went viral, protests escalated, and the state government ordered a CBI probe in January.