Sonali Phogat Murder Case: Assistant 'Forced' Her To Take Drugs, CBI Tells Court

The CBI in its charge sheet said that Phogat was forced to take drugs by her associate Sukhwinder Singh and personal assistant Sudhir Sangwan hours before her death on August 23.

CBI files charge sheet in connection to the Haryana BJP leader and TikTok star Sonali Phogat's murder case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet on Tuesday in connection with the murder case of Haryana BJP leader and TikTok star Sonali Phogat, mentioning that her personal assistant forced her to take drugs hours before her death. Phogat's personal assistant Sudhir Sangwan and her associate Sukhwinder Singh have been charged under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (murder) and other provisions.

The CBI in its charge sheet said that Phogat was forced to take drugs by Singh and Sangwan hours before her death on August 23. The charge sheet has been filed before the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) in Mapusa. The CBI interrogated both the accused, who were arrested in the case, in Kolwale Jail. The CBI has also examined the documents of the Goa Police, which run into more than 500 pages. 

The statements of witnesses have also been recorded in the charge sheet. 

Sonali had died under suspicious circumstances at Curlies Bar in Anjuna Beach, Goa. Sonali's PA Sangwan and Sukhwinder have been accused of killing her by forcibly giving her drugs. Both were arrested three days later after her brother Rinku Dhaka filed a complaint against them.

The Goa Police, which has been probing the murder case since Phogat's death on August 23, has not found any concrete evidence and neither determined any motive for the 'murder'. Initially, the Goa Police had registered a case of unnatural death, but a case of murder was registered after the postmortem report came which revealed “multiple blunt force injuries” on her body.

The Goa Police had earlier said that Phogat was forced to drink methamphetamine drugs (meth) by the accused at the famous restaurant-cum-nightclub Curlies on Anjuna beach.

Earlier this month, Edwin Nunes, owner of Curlies restaurant, was arrested by the Telangana Police in Goa in a drug case. Nunes was among five people arrested after Phogat's death this September. Later he was released on bail.

The Phogat murder case was transferred to the CBI after the request of the Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and the Khap Mahapanchayat. Yashodhara Phogat, daughter of Sonali Phogat, also demanded a CBI inquiry. She had also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about this.

Sonali Phogat contested the 2019 Haryana election as a BJP candidate but lost to then-Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi (he has since joined the BJP). She also appeared in the reality show Bigg Boss in 2020.