Handing over Sonali Phogat death case to CBI, says Goa CM, amid growing demands

Sonali Phogat: The BJP leader was found dead in Goa last month.

Amid growing demands, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said that the case linked to the death of BJP leader Sonali Phogat would be handed over to CBI. He underlined that the family of the BJP leader - who died last month - and the Haryana government had making persistent demands in this regard.

Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sonali Phogat. (ANI)

“We are giving the Sonali Phogat death case to the CBI. It is because we have been receiving consistent demands from Haryana and her family that it should be handed over to the central agency,” Sawant said. “I will be writing to union home minister Amit Shah in this regard later today,” he added.

Actor-politician Sonali Phogat - who hailed from Haryana - was found dead in Goa last month. Albeit, heart attack was said to be the initial cause of the death, her family had alleged foul play. Later, probe linked to death due to drug overdose was launched.

A murder case was filed by the Goa Police after the post-mortem report suggested “blunt force injury” on her body. The police had also said that Phogat was “forcibly drugged by her two associates”. Several arrests were subsequently made in the case.

On Sunday, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said that the case would be handed over to the central probe agency if the family was not satisfied. “We had asked for a CBI probe in writing but they have stated that the Goa police would complete their own investigation first, and if the family is not satisfied with it, then the investigation will be handed over to CBI," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

(With inputs from ANI)