Sonali Phogat Murder Case: Post-Mortem Report Inconclusive; 2 Main Accused Sent To 10-Day Police Custody

Recently, after Sonali Phogat's post-mortem revealed that there were multiple blunt force injuries on her body, the Goa Police arrested two aides of Haryana BJP leader Sonali Phogat- her PA Sudhir Sangwan and friend Sukhwinder Wasi for their alleged involvement in her murder. Latest report stated that the police made two more arrests in this case- Goa restaurant owner and a drug dealer.

About the cause of death, Goa DGP Jaspal Singh said that the post-mortem report of Sonali Phogat remained inconclusive as there was no serious injury. He was quoted by Times Of India as saying, "In this particular case, there was no serious injury to the body (Sonali Phogat). We got the post-mortem done. The body didn't have any injury, fracture or mark as such that proved she died due to an injury. The post-mortem report remained inconclusive. The only way left is to subject the suspects to questioning to ascertain the manner of death."

As per Times Of India report, two main accused Sudhir and Sukhwinder have been sent to 10-day police custody. Based on the investigation, police said that they searched the premises of Curlies and recovered a narcotics substance from the toilet, which was kept by Sudhir. The police also revealed that Sudhir had purchased the substances from Gaonkar.

The report also stated that the Goa Police have sealed first floor of Curlies at Anjuna where the Haryana BJP leader Sonali and the accused were seen partying. Police mentioned that Sudhir has confessed to the crime and told police that he and Sukhwinder had taken Sonali to Curlies on the pretext of partying, where he mixed some obnoxious substance in drinking water and forced her to consume it.
Meanwhile, her younger brother Vatan Dhaka told BT that Sonali was fit and had no health issues or aliments. He added that she was very particular about her diet and the news of her sudden death came as a shock to them.

When asked what made them grow suspicious, Vatan said, "Her personal assistant called to inform me in the morning (August 23) that she (Sonali) had died of heart failure. That was around 8 am. I was asleep, as I was unwell. A few hours later, I called them back to confirm and find out how it happened and their whereabouts. It was irregularities in their statement and time of death that made us suspect foul play. Later, we learnt that she was drugged and then killed. We just knew about Sudhir accompanying her and got to know about Sukhwinder much later. My younger brother, Rinku, is in Goa and we are getting all updates from him."

Sonali Phogat Murder Case: Who Are Accused Sudhir Sangwan & Sukhwinder? Trio's Old Video Goes Viral
Vatan said that he wants case to be thoroughly investigated. He added that the family wants to know why they did it and at whose behest. He concluded by saying, "Hamaara sab kuchh khatam ho gaya hai. Beti ki maa aur baap chala gaya. Kuchh reh nahi gaya. (We lost everything- Daughter's mother and father are no more. We are left with nothing)."

For women in distress help available at, Central Social Welfare Board -Police Helpline: 1091/ 1291, (011) 23317004; Shakti Shalini- women's shelter: (011) 24373736/ 24373737; All India Women's Conference: 10921/ (011) 23389680; Joint Women's Programme: (011) 24619821; Sakshi- violence intervention center: (0124) 2562336/ 5018873; Nirmal Niketan (011) 27859158; JAGORI (011) 26692700; Nari Raksha Samiti: (011) 23973949; RAHI Recovering and Healing from Incest. A support centre for women survivors of child sexual abuse: (011) 26238466/ 26224042, 26227647.