Sonali Phogat death: Associates drugged BJP leader, ‘economic interest’ alleged; know top updates

BJP leader and TikTok star Sonali Phogat, who had mysteriously passed away earlier this week, was drugged by her two associates while she was at a party in Goa, with “obnoxious substances” mixed in her water, according to the Goa Police.

With this new development coming to light on Friday, murder charges have been slapped on both the associates of the Haryana BJP leader. The two accused, Sudhir Sagwan and Sukhwinder Singh, were arrested on Thursday and remain in the custody of the Goa police.

Both the accused in the Sonali Phogat death case have been arrested even as the Goa police said the "obnoxious substance" spiked in the drinking water during the party at Curlies restaurant apparently caused the death of the popular 42-year-old TikTok star on August 23.

Here are the top updates from the case –

Sonali Phogat’s PA Sudhir Sagwan and close aide Sukhwinder Singh admitted to spiking the BJP leader’s water during a party sometime before her death, which caused her to feel uneasy and uncomfortable at the party.

The motive behind the alleged murder of Phogat could be "economic interest", said a senior police official, adding the duo was arrested to “avoid the possibility of destruction of evidence and influencing the witnesses.”

During the investigation of her death, the CCTV footage of the restaurant was examined by the investigating officer and it was found that Sagwan was forcefully making Phogat drink "obnoxious chemical" mixed with water from a water bottle. 

The two men were seen taking Phogat to the washroom of the restaurant around 4.30 am on August 23 and the three of them were inside the toilet for two hours, he said.

As the investigations in the matter are continuing, were held in Hisar with a large number of people turning up to pay their last respects. Phogat's teenage daughter Yashodhara lit the funeral pyre as she along with her other family members bade her a tearful adieu at a cremation ground in Rishi Nagar.

Apart from the two prime accused in the death case, two other women from the party have also been included in the accused list and are being questioned by the police.

While Phogat’s death was earlier ruled as a heart attack due to no visible injuries, the post-mortem report revealed that she had suffered “multiple blunt force injuries”.

(With PTI inputs)

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