News Desk: Uttarakhand minister Rekha Arya’s husband, Girdhari Lal Sahu, has denied allegations made against him by his wife and accused her of corruption and neglecting her constituency. The controversy has escalated after Uttarakhand Police registered an FIR following Arya’s complaint.
Arya, the state’s women and child development minister, alleged that her husband conspired to murder her, subjected her to repeated caste-based harassment and forged her signatures to remove her from various positions without her consent. Police registered the FIR at Dehradun’s Cantonment police station on Thursday.
Dehradun City Superintendent of Police Shekhar Chand Suyal said a deputy superintendent of police-rank officer would investigate the matter. He added that evidence had been submitted with the complaint and appropriate action would be taken based on the findings.
In her complaint, Arya alleged that Sahu concealed his earlier marriage before marrying her and maintained relationships with other women. She also claimed that he and another woman were plotting to kill her. The allegations reportedly relate to incidents spanning July 2004 to October 2026.
The FIR includes charges related to forgery, cheating, criminal conspiracy, bigamy, cruelty and criminal intimidation, along with provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Sahu has rejected the allegations and made counterclaims against Arya. In video statements shared on Facebook, he accused her of corruption in her departments and alleged that she had failed to pay adequate attention to her Someshwar constituency in Almora district.
He also claimed that the audio recordings shared by Arya were generated using artificial intelligence. Hindustan Times reported that it could not independently verify the authenticity of the recordings.
Sahu appealed to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami for justice and called for an investigation by any appropriate agency. He further alleged that Arya had accumulated illegal assets worth ₹210 crore, a claim that has not been independently established.
Arya had not responded to Hindustan Times’ requests for comment at the time of publication. She was admitted to a private hospital in Dehradun earlier in the week after reportedly suffering from high blood pressure. Police said on Friday that she was out of danger.
The allegations against both parties remain subject to investigation, and the claims have not been established in court.
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