CBI files chargesheet in Sonali Phogat murder case

Tribune Reporters

Hisar/New Delhi, November 22

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today filed chargesheet in the murder case of the BJP leader and TikTok celebrity Sonali Phogat in the court of the Judicial Magistrate at Mapusa in Goa.

The court during the hearing today served the copies of the nearly 500-page chargesheet to the lawyers of the two accused, Sudhir Pal Sangwan who was the personal assistant of Sonali, and Sukhwinder.

The court has fixed the next date of hearing as December 5 for further arguments.

The incident had occurred on the night of August 22 when Sonali was accompanying the two accused in Goa. The BJP leader had contested the 2019 Assembly polls from Adampur on the BJP ticket. Sonali’s family had alleged that Sudhir Sangwan wanted to grab the property of Sonali and, thus, he, along with his accomplice Sukhwinder, conspired to kill her in Goa.

The videos of Sonali being administered some liquor reportedly laced with intoxicants the same night had also surfaced at a club in Goa. The Goa Police had registered a case of murder against PA Sudhir Sangwan and Sukhwinder under Section 302 of IPC and other charges and started investigation. Both accused were arrested from Goa by the local police.

Later, the family of Sonali Phogat demanded investigation by the CBI while expressing dissatisfaction over the police investigation by the Goa Police. The Haryana Police had also recommended to the Goa Government to transfer the case to the CBI in view of the demand of the family members.

The agency had taken over the probe into the death of Phogat in Goa in September and re-registered the FIR of the Goa Police on a reference from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, which was routed to it through the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). Teams of the CBI, along with the CFSL experts, had conducted a thorough analysis of the crime scene recreation and other forensic material.

The ministry had referred the case to the CBI after Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, requesting a probe by the CBI.

The police had arrested five persons in connection with the case, including the two named in the CBI chargesheet, two alleged drug suppliers, Dattaprasad Gaonkar and Rama Mandrekar, and the owner of the restaurant Edwin Nunes. It was alleged that Gaonkar had provided drugs to Singh and Sangwan. Mandrekar had sold the drugs to Gaonkar.

The arrests were made and an FIR for murder was registered after the autopsy report said there were multiple “blunt force injuries” on her body.

The police had then contended that “economic interest” could be a motive behind her alleged killing.

Aides eyed property

• The incident had occurred on the night of August 22 when Sonali was accompanying the two accused, Sudhir Sangwan and Sukhwinder, in Goa
• Sonali’s family alleged that Sudhir Sangwan wanted to grab the property of Sonali, thus he and Sukhwinder conspired to kill her

#BJP #Central Bureau of Investigation CBI #Hisar #Sonali Phogat