Uttarakhand minister accuses husband of conspiring to murder her, bigamy

Uttarakhand women and child development minister Rekha Arya on Thursday accused her husband Girdhari Lal Sahu of forgery, caste-based harassment and conspiring to murder her, prompting the police to register a first information report (FIR) against him, officers said.

In her complaint to the police, Arya alleged that Sahu had concealed his earlier marriage before entering into a union with her and having relationship with other women. She alleged that Sahu, in collusion with another woman, was plotting to kill her, according to her complaint.

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Alleged forgery and FIR

Arya, the BJP legislator from Someshwar, also alleged that Sahu forged her signature on various documents to remove her from certain positions, despite her not having submitted any resignation. The offences, according to her complaint, took place over an extended period from July 6, 2004, to October 15, 2026.

The FIR, registered at the Cantonment police station in Dehradun on her complaint, charges Sahu of forgery, cheating, criminal conspiracy, bigamy, cruelty by a husband, and criminal intimidation under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as well as charges under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, police said, adding that inspector Santosh Singh Kunwar was heading the probe in the case.

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Audio shared and response awaited

Arya posted a video statement on Facebook and also shared two audio of purported phone calls of her husband with some woman. HT could not independently verify the veracity of the audio recordings.

Sahu, who is from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, was yet to react to the allegations against him.