CBI Team Arrives In Goa To Take Over Probe Into BJP Leader Sonali Phogat’s Death

"The process of handing over the Sonali Phogat case to the CBI is underway. The entire investigation will be handed over to CBI," Saksena said.

BJP Leader Sonali Phogat.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team on Friday arrived in Goa for taking over the BJP leader Sonali Phogat's murder case from Goa police, North Goa SP Shobhit Saksena said, news agency ANI reported. 

The CBI team has arrived in Goa to gather information and speak with local police officers and medical professionals who evaluated the former TV host after she was taken to the hospital.

"The process of handing over the Sonali Phogat case to the CBI is underway. The entire investigation will be handed over to CBI," Saksena was quoted by ANI on its official Twitter handle. 

The CBI team has arrived in Goa for taking over the Sonali Phogat murder case. The process of handing over the Sonali Phogat case to the CBI is underway. The entire investigation will be handed over to CBI: Shobhit Saksena, North Goa SP pic.twitter.com/XJhPIWcpmU

— ANI (@ANI) September 16, 2022

According to the sources, viscera samples will provide a clear indication behind Phogat's demise, PTI reported.

After Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the ministry forwarded the file to the CBI (CBI).

According to a government official with knowledge of the situation, the home ministry advised the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to have the CBI look into the issue.

The DoPT has administrative responsibility over how the CBI runs.

The intervening night of August 22–23 saw Phogat, a resident of Hisar, Haryana, brought dead to a hospital in Goa following a wild party at Curlies restaurant on Anjuna beach.

The day before the event, 43-year-old Phogat, a former Tik Tok celebrity and competitor on the reality TV series "Big Boss," travelled to Goa with two of her male assistants, Sudhir Sangwan and Sukhwinder Singh.

She was spotted dancing with Sangwan on the restaurant's CCTV footage that surfaced following her death. She is allegedly forced to drink water by the assistant, which she immediately spits up.

Another video shows Phogat being led out of the restaurant by her aides, who have since been detained, and she can be seen wobbling and nearly collapsing near the stairway on her way out.

According to police, Sangwan and Singh reportedly put a "obnoxious substance" in water and forced Phogat to swallow it.

Phogat was given methamphetamine, and some leftover substance was found in the restaurant's restroom, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Jivba Dalvi.

So far, five persons have been held in connection with the investigation, including her aides Sangwan and Singh, two accused drug dealers Dattaprasad Gaonkar and Rama Mandrekar, and restaurant owner Edwin Nunes.

Gaonkar is accused of supplying narcotics to Singh and Sangwan. Gaonkar had purchased the medicines from Mandrekar.

The medics indicated she died of a heart attack, but her brother claimed Sagwan and Singh were involved in her death.

After the postmortem report revealed many "blunt force injuries" on her body, the arrests were made and a First Information Report for murder was filed. According to police, her alleged murder might have been motivated by "economic interest."

(With Inputs From Agencies)