Sonali Phogat case: Two main accused sent to 10-day police custody

The main accused in the murder of actor and BJP leader Sonali Phogat -- Sukhwinder Singh and Sudhir Sangwan -- have been sent to 10-day police custody on Saturday. The duo, Phogat`s PA Sudhir Sangwan and his associate Sukhwinder Singh, were arrested in the case on Friday after police accessed the CCTV footage in which the trio were seen partying at a club.

Earlier, the Goa Police arrested Edwin Nunes, owner of Curlies Beach Shack in Anjuna, and also a suspected drug peddler Dattprashad Gaonkar, taking the total arrests in the case to four.

"Drug peddler who had supplied drugs (to accused) has been arrested. The owner of the shack where drugs were found has been arrested too," said Jaspal Singh, Director General of Police, Goa.

DGP Singh further told ANI, "We will send one team to Haryana to verify some allegations and suspicions levelled by the family because those doubts would also have bearing on the investigation. As per the briefing by the Investigating Officer, Goa Police`s investigation is going in the correct direction."

Goa police has added one more FIR against the drug peddler and owner of Curlies under the section of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

Police said that the duo who travelled to Goa with Phogat on August 22 had during interrogation confessed that they had intentionally made her drink a liquid mixed with some "obnoxious" chemical. Meanwhile, the suspected peddler Gaonkar held today had allegedly supplied drugs to Sukhwinder Singh.

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The 42-year-old Phogat was declared dead at the St Anthony Hospital at Anjuna in North Goa on August 23. A post-mortem report revealed blunt force injury on her body, following which the Goa Police registered a murder case.

The two accused -- Sudhir Sangwan and his associate Sukhwinder Singh -- confessed that they intentionally mixed an obnoxious chemical into a liquid and made the victim drink it, which made her feel uneasy, after which they took her to the hotel and then to St. Anthony`s Hospital, where she was declared brought dead," the Goa police said.

The actor, who rose to fame with her TikTok videos, 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.

(With inputs from ANI)