New Delhi: The Goa Police has arrested two associates of deceased BJP leader and actor Sonali Phogat after interrogation revealed that these men fed her a “chemical substance” following which she lost control of herself.
Inspector General of Police Omvir Singh Bishnoi said close-circuit television footage showed Sonali and her associates Sudhir Sangwan and Sukhwinder Singh partying in a club the evening before her death.
“A video establishes that one of them forcefully made the victim consume a substance. When confronted, Sukhwinder and Sudhir confessed that they had intentionally mixed an obnoxious chemical in a liquid and made her drink it,” the senior officer said.
Bishnoi said Sonali wasn’t herself after having the drink. “Around 4.30, when she was unable to take care of herself, the accused was seen taking her to the toilet. They were in the toilet for two hours. The accused have not yet said anything about what happened there,” he added.
#WATCH | Sonali Phogat death: Goa IGP says,"…Video establishes that one of the accused forcefully made her consume a substance. When confronted, accused Sukhwinder Singh & Sudhir Sangwan confessed they intentionally mixed obnoxious chemical into a liquid & made her drink it…" pic.twitter.com/85aPyjuGy4
— ANI (@ANI) August 26, 2022
The officer said further interrogation would reveal what the accused had given to Sonali to drink. He also said an expert of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory had been called to scrutinise the evidence. “The accused will be sent with a team to various locations to gather further evidence,” Bishnoi said.
The 42-year-old leader from Hisar – who was in Goa ostensibly for a film shoot — was brought dead to the St Anthony Hospital at Anjuna in North Goa on Tuesday morning. The Goa Police initially said she died of a heart attack but Sonali’s family registered a case of ‘rape and murder’.
Sonali Phogat’s last rites were performed at a crematorium in Hisar Friday in presence of her family and political leaders. Her teenage daughter Yashodhara lit her mother’s pyre.
The family has stood firm in its belief that the Goa administration’s initial assumption that Sonali died of a heart attack did not wash.
In his complaint to the Anjuna Police, Sonali’s brother Rinku Dhaka was adamant that something was amiss. Dhaka said Sonali had spoken to the family hours before her death and grumbled about her staff.
Dhaka insisted Sangwan raped her after adding drugs to her meal. “She had no plans of coming to Goa. She was brought as a pre-planned conspiracy. There was no movie shoot, two rooms in the hotel had been booked only for two days. A film shoot was supposed to happen on 24 August but the rooms were booked only for 21 and 22 August,” Dhaka said.
After his complaint, Sonali’s post-mortem revealed “multiple blunt-force injuries on the body”, but a preliminary check-up did not find evidence of any sharp-edged wounds.
The BJP leader’s family will now decide whether they want a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into her death.
Meanwhile, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has been sharply criticised over the “casual” probe into Sonali’s death. The head of the BJP-led government had said Wednesday that initial examination pointed towards a cardiac arrest.
Goa Forward Party MLA Vijay Sardesai said: “Yesterday, they said she died of a heart attack. Today, a post-mortem revealed several blunt force injuries. This proves the chief minister likes to give a clean chit and jump the gun. This is giving Goa a bad name.”
Also read: ‘Why no female khap?’ Haryana BJP leader Sonali Phogat wants action against ‘lewd remarks’