Goa restaurant owner linked to BJP leader Sonali Phogat's death arrested in drugs case

Edwin Nunes, proprietor of the Curlies restaurant, was taken into custody by Telangana Police in Anjuna yesterday, only hours after being released on bail in Goa in a different matter. After the death of BJP politician Sonali Phogat in September, authorities detained a total of five people, including Nunes. Subsequently, he posted bail and was allowed to leave jail.

The CBI is now investigating the death of Phogat. Ms. Phogat's death brought attention to the Curlies restaurant when it was discovered that she had been there partying hours before her death.

After a narcotics arrest in Telangana three months ago, the police in Hyderabad have identified Nunes as one of hundreds of sought drug traffickers. According to our sources, police from Lalaguda, Telangana, were camped out in Goa after the Additional Sessions Court in Mapusa ordered Nunes to turn himself up at Anjuna for fabricating a COVID-19 certificate earlier in the week.

The local police assisted in his arrest yesterday, just after he posted bail, and he was brought to Hyderabad.  Family members of Nunes, they said, have been in Hyderabad since he applied for anticipatory release at several courts.

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He has avoided capture on many occasions, but on October 30, the High Court of Telangana ordered him to report to the Lalaguda police by November 7. Nunes's senior counsel said no concrete charges were brought against their client.

However, the Assistant Public Prosecutor said that Nunes was a drug trader based in Goa who was implicated in other instances.