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Goa court gives cops 2 more days to grill Sonali Phogat’s manager, his associate
Sonali Phogat, 42, was declared dead at the St Anthony Hospital at Anjuna in North Goa on August 23 after a night out at a nightclub. It is not still clear what caused her death.
PANAJI: A local court on Tuesday extended by two days the police custody of the two men arrested in connection with the death of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sonali Phogat.
Phogat’s manager Sudhir Sangwan,39, and his 33-year-old associate Sukhwinder Singh were presented before the judicial magistrate on Tuesday after their 10-day police custody concluded, said a senior police officer familiar with the case. According to police, they sought 4-day custody of the duo but were given only two days.
Phogat was declared dead at the St Anthony Hospital at Anjuna in North Goa on August 23 after a night out at a nightclub. It is not still clear what caused her death.
Sangwan and Singh were arrested on August 27 and subsequently remanded in the custody of Goa Police for 10 days that is investigating how the 42-year-old BJP leader died after a night out at Goa’s Curlies’ beach shack and nightclub at Anjuna beach.
Also Read | Party, drugs, mystery: How the Phogat tragedy has rocked Goa
Police have arrested five people so far in connection with the case — Phogat’s manager Sangwan and his associate Singh were arrested on August 27 and are accused of forcing the BJP leader to consume the drug MDMA and later murdering her.
On Tuesday, the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) court heard the bail pleas of Edwin Nunes, the owner of Curlies’ where Sonali partied the night she died; Dattaprasad Gaonkar, the bellboy at the Grand Leoney Resort hotel who sold them the drugs, and Ramdas Mandrekar, the peddler who supplied drugs to the bellboy.
The court is expected to pronounce its order on Wednesday.
