Sonali Phogat murder case: Former NDA ally hints at cover up, demands Goa CM’s resignation as home minister | Goa News – Times of India

Sonali Phogat (File photo)

PANAJI: Amidst the rapid developments in the investigation into the death of Haryana BJP politician and Sonali Phogat, Goa Forward Party (GFP) has questioned whether Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant attempted to cover up the murder of the Tik-Tok star. GFP president Vijai Sardesai said that Sawant should step down as the home minister till the investigation is complete.
Without making any direct allegations, Sardesai questioned if Sawant received a series of phone calls from high ranking BJP politicians from Haryana on the day of the alleged murder.
“Did the chief minister try to protect some high-profile politician from Haryana and was that the reason her death was termed as a cardiac arrest,” said Sardesai, while addressing a press conference at the party head quarters. “The chief minister should step down as the home minister.”
Phogat was seen stumbling out of Curlies Beach Shack around 4:27am on August 23 with reports of her death surfacing online around 8am on the same day. When quizzed by reporters, Sawant had attributed Phogat’s death to a cardiac arrest.
“Why did chief minister ask the Police to go slow in the matter at the initial stage? Even the family alleged at the initial stage that there was a cover up and they demanded a CBI investigation. The chief minister should come clean on this episode of cardiac arrest,” said Sardesai. “How did chief minister come to this conclusion?”
GFP has also questioned the silence of senior BJP leaders on the murder and the drug angle that has surfaced.
Goa Police has registered a narcotics case against four persons and arrested Curlies owner Edwin Nunes and drug peddler Dattaprasad Gaonkar, who is alleged to have supplied drugs that were found in Phogat’s body. Police have also booked the Sudhir Sangvan and Sukhwinder Singh, who have been accused of murdering Phogat.
Goa Police had initially registered a case of unnatural death but later added murder to the case after the post mortem conducted on Thursday revealed blunt force injuries on Phogat’s body.