On Friday, the Goa Police detained two additional persons in connection with the killing of Haryana BJP politician Sonali Phogat, including the owner of Curlies Club and a drug dealer. The officers also found drugs in the club’s restroom. “The owner was arrested because drugs have been recovered from the club. He was arrested after questioning. The nature of the drugs seized is yet to be confirmed,” the Goa Police said.
The Goa Police on Friday confirmed that Sonali Phogat was forcefully drugged at a party by the two people suspected of her murder. The Police said that the arrested accused Sangwan and Sukhwinder Singh also confessed that they had drugged the woman by mixing the substance with a drink and then making her consume it.
Police said that drugs were found at the shack of the arrested drug dealer. Goa DGP Jaspal Singh said that multiple teams are working on the case and a team will be sent to Haryana to probe the allegations made by Phogat’s family members. “We’ll send one team to Haryana to verify some allegations & suspicions levelled by the family because those doubts would also have bearing on the investigation. As per the briefing by the Investigating Officer, Goa Police’s investigation is going in the correct direction,” the DGP said.
In the meanwhile, the two prime accused Sudhir Sangwan and his aide Sukhvinder Singh have been sent to police custody for ten days by a court.
On Monday, Phogat was pronounced dead at a hospital in North Goa. The authorities first said that woman looked to have had a heart attack. However, on Wednesday Phogat’s brother Rinku Dhaka claimed that she was murdered. He accused her personal assistant Sudhir Sangwan and his aide Sukhvinder Singh of killing the BJP leader. Phogat’s family members meanwhile also claimed that the deceased was brutally raped by the duo before being murdered.
According to the reports, Dhaka said he had noticed blue marks on his sister’s body. He also claimed that not a single BJP leader aided them. “We will get the post-mortem done again in AIIMS Delhi. We are not being heard here. My sister was committed to the BJP but not a single BJP leader came here to help us. We want justice”, he had said.
He also alleged that Sangwan mixed up his sister’s meal with illicit substances and sexually abused her. He claimed she told her brother-in-law that Sangwan committed theft in her home three years ago and that she planned to report him to the law enforcement agencies on August 23.
Rinku reported to the police that Sangwan had her phones, property records, ATM cards, and house keys. She also said Sangwan had given her food laced with some intoxicants, raped her and made a video, and was threatening to make the video viral on social media.
The Goa Police on August 25 arrested Sudhir Sangwan and Sukhwinder Vasi who had accompanied Sonali Phogat to Goa on August 22. The Police registered an FIR in the case and added murder charges to the case after her autopsy report arrived. The autopsy report revealed that ‘multiple blunt force injury marks’ were found on the body.
So far, 4 arrests including Sudhir Sangwan and Sukhwinder have been made in the case. Police also have recovered drugs from the restroom of the Curlies Club.