Team Herald
editor@herald-goa.com
ANJUNA: The story of the death in Goa of “Tik Tok” star and BJP member from Haryana Sonali Phogat is getting more sullied by the day. No one would have imagined that the stories and allegations surrounding her death and the last moments of her life would be far murkier than any of her social media reels.
In a sinister turn of events, her family has alleged that she was murdered by her personal assistant and her male friend, with whom she had travelled to Goa, unplanned and unannounced. One of her family members said that the trip to Goa was unplanned, and that she was supposed to travel from Chandigarh, where she had gone for some BJP work, directly back to her hometown of Hisar in Haryana.
They alleged that Phogat’s PA Sudhir Sangwan and friend Sukhwinder Singh had poisoned the ex-Big Boss contestant and demanded that the Goa Police first register a murder case against them, failing which they would shift her body to AIIMS, New Delhi, for the autopsy.
In a complaint lodged with the Anjuna Police on Wednesday, Phogat’s relatives said that she had spoken to her mother the night she died and had complained of feeling uneasy and developing shivers after eating some food that evening.
Phogat’s family, including her brother-in-law, cousin, and brother Rinku Dhaga arrived in Goa on Tuesday but refused to go to the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim, to be present for the post-mortem examination.
“We are confident that these two people are involved in the murder. They have been planning this for a long time, but we never realised it. She spoke to us (her sister, mother, brother, and brother-in-law) the night before her death and it was clear that she was in trouble, and anything could happen to her,” said Dhaga in his complaint. He added that Sangwan had met Sonali in 2019, and had been working as her PA since then.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, speaking to reporters said, “The DGP is personally monitoring it. Though it appears to be cardiac arrest, we are still conducting the post-mortem to ascertain the exact cause of death. An investigation is going on.”
“We have registered a case of unnatural death and once the post-mortem examination is conducted, the report will ascertain the exact cause of death. Even to register a case of murder, we require the autopsy report, to understand if there is any foul play,” PI Prashal Desai, the investigating officer, said.
Meanwhile, the police have registered a case of unnatural death and are waiting for the postmortem report to ascertain the exact cause of death. As the family did not go to GMC, the medical team is yet to conduct the autopsy. As part of the inquiry, the police are recording statements, including that of the two named in the complaint. “They have not been arrested or detained. They have been summoned to the police station as part of the investigation; they are being questioned,” said PI Desai.
The family also said that Phogat was suspicious of her PA, who sometimes used to cook her food. “She had told us, on several occasions that she felt uneasy and shivery after eating food given to her by Sangwan. She wanted to return to Hisar and take police action against them, and we advised her to stay away from the two men and approach the police as soon as she got back. But she never made it back,” said Dhaga.
Police sources confirmed that Sonali Phogat had gone to Curlie’s Beach Shack on Anjuna Beach for dinner, along with her PA and a male friend. People recognised her as a celebrity at the shack and approached her for selfies, they said. She then returned to the Grand Leoney resort, complaining of uneasiness, and then collapsed. She was taken to St Anthony’s Hospital, where doctors declared her ‘brought dead’.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the Director General of Police (DGP) Jaspal Singh requesting a report on the action taken, and the report of the postmortem conducted on Ms Phogat’s body.
