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Drug peddler, club owner arrested by Goa police in Sonali Phogat death case
Main accused- Sudhir Sangwan and his associate Sukhwinder Singh- remanded to 10-day police custody in connection with BJP leader Sonali Phogat’s death
The Goa police on Saturday arrested a suspected drug peddler and the owner of a club, where BJP leader and actor Sonali Phogat was seen partying, in connection with her death, taking the number of arrests in the case to four.
Edwin Nunes is the owner of Curlies’ beach nightclub in Anjuna, where Phogat was seen partying with her PA Sudhir Sangwan and his associate Sukhwinder Singh and was forcibly made to drink some ‘obnoxious chemical’.
Dattaprasad Gaonkar allegedly supplied the synthetic drugs to Phogat’s two associates , who fed them to her.
ALSO READ | New video shows BJP's Sonali Phogat, who died in Goa, being forced to drink
The police have registered a case under sections 22(b), 29 and 25 of NDPS Act against the Nunes and Gaonkar. They have also sealed the upper floor of Curlies’ in a bid to prevent tampering of the crime scene.
Meanwhile, the judicial magistrate first class remanded Sangwan and Singh to ten days police custody. The police had sought fourteen days, citing that they needed custodial interrogation of the accused to ascertain the possible involvement of other persons in the crime.
The Anjuna police, who have booked Sangwan and Singh on the charges of murder, have also added section 328 of the Indian Penal Code (administering and intoxicating drug) besides other sections concerning conspiracy with regard to her death.
Based on the disclosure of accused Sangwan, the drugs given to the deceased were seized from the washroom of the Curlies’ restaurant. The drugs have been identified as Metamemphatamine, police said.
“Further investigation has revealed that the drugs were supplied by one Dattaprasad Gaonkar who was working as a room boy in Hotel Grand Leoney Resort, Anjuna where the accused persons and the deceased lady were staying,” Deputy Superintendent of Police Jivba Dalvi, said.
Earlier, the police said that from the CCTV footage taken from the Curlies’ Club, Sangwan and Singh were seen forcibly administering her an ‘obnoxious chemical’ mixed in a drink.
“The accused Sudhir Sangwan and associate Sukhwinder Singh were partying in the club along with the deceased and from the video, it is seen that one of the accused is forcefully making the deceased drink some substance,” Inspector General of Police Omvir Singh Bishnoi had said.
“When they were confronted with this, Sudhir Sangwan and Sukhwinder confessed that they had intentionally given the accused some obnoxious chemical after which the victim wasn’t herself and needed to be taken care of. At around 4:30 pm when she could no longer hold it together, the victim was taken to the bathroom,” Bishnoi added.
Phogat spent two hours in the washroom of the club after which she was taken back to the hotel in a taxi where she succumbed. She was rushed to the St Anthony’s Hospital -- a private hospital in Anjuna- where she was declared as having succumbed to a probable heart attack.
Phogat and her team were in Goa to reportedly produce a video and were to be joined by another group from Mumbai.
Phogat’s family meets Haryana CM
The family members of Phogat met Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at his residence in Chandigarh and demanded a CBI probe into her death.
The CM has assured the family that they will write to the Goa government to send a reference for a CBI investigation in a case.
