Political war of words over BJP leader Sonali Phogat's death in Goa; family seeks murder probe

A political war of words has broken out in Goa over the mysterious death of BJP leader from Haryana and ex-Big Boss contestant Sonali Phogat in the beach village of Anjuna, with the deceased's family continuing to allege a murder conspiracy.

Phogat's brother Rinku Dhaka on Wednesday also said that the family would not allow a postmortem to be conducted in Goa, if the state police does not register a murder First Information Report (FIR) is filed in connection with the case.

“If the FIR is not filed against them, we will not allow the postmortem to be conducted in Goa,” Dhaka told reporters on Wednesday at the Anjuna police station, where an unnatural death report was filed on Tuesday morning after Phogat breathed her last.

Phogat, who had complained of uneasiness on Monday night after dinner, was brought dead on arrival at a local hospital in North Goa on Tuesday morning. She was holidaying in Goa with some colleagues. Her family has however alleged foul play in Phogat's death, with her sisters also claiming that the deceased had called her after dinner on Monday and complained about the food she had eaten.

The deceased's family has now accused two of her aides, accusing them of conspiracy leading to Phogat's death. The Goa Police are in the process of questioning the BJP leader's colleagues, who were part of the entourage.

Earlier on Wednesday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that Director General of Police Jaspal Singh is "personally monitoring" the probe into Phogat's death.

Speaking to reporters at the State Secretariat, Sawant also said that the preliminary cause of death appeared to be cardiac arrest, but added that the post mortem would reveal the exact reasons. "Goa Police are seriously investigating the case. DGP is personally monitoring," Sawant told reporters.

"Preliminary it looks like it is cardiac arrest. But still postmortem report is expected. According to doctors and DGP it looks like cardiac arrest. Investigation is going on," Sawant said. Former Congress president Girish Chodankar has, however, demanded that Sawant and Health Minister Vishwajit Rane should not pressurise forensic doctors from the Goa Medical College in Panaji ahead of the post mortem on Phogat's remains.

"We demand a fair probe in Sonali Phogat's death probe. The Chief Minister and Health Minister should not pressurise Goa Medical College doctors who are conducting autopsy. The Family has already raised doubt about her death," Chodankar said.

"We have to send a clear message to the tourism industry and tourists visiting Goa, that Goa is a safe place," Chodankar also said.