Sonali Phogat death case: Two accused sent to 10-day police custody

Panaji, Aug 27: A court in Goa on Saturday remanded two accused - Sukhwinder Singh & Sudhir Sangwan - arrested in the murder case of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sonali Phogat in police custody for ten days. The incident took place at Curlies Restaurant at Anjuna in North Goa district on the intervening night of August 22 and 23.

A senior officer said the court remanded the duo in police custody for ten days. Sagwan and Singh had accompanied Phogat, a popular TikTok star who hailed from Haryana to Goa on August 22.

Phogat, 42, was brought dead to St Anthony Hospital at Anjuna in North Goa district on August 23 morning from her hotel.

Sagwan and Singh confessed during questioning that they had intentionally mixed the substance in her drinks. The motive behind killing her could be some "economic interest," the IGP said.

The two men were seen taking Phogat to the washroom of the restaurant around 4.30 am on August 23 and the three of them were inside the washroom for two hours, he said.

Earlier in the day, the Goa Police detained a North Goa restaurant owner and a suspected peddler, who had allegedly supplied drugs to the two accused arrested in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sonali Phogat murder case, a senior officer said.

The suspected drug peddler, Dattaprasad Gaonkar, was detained from Anjuna after the accused duo "confessed" in their statement that they had procured drugs from him, the officer said.

Another man who has been detained is identified as Edwin Nunes, the owner of Curlies restaurant, where Phogat was partying late at night on August 22 before her death under mysterious circumstances.

Phogat, 42, was brought dead to St Anthony Hospital at Anjuna in North Goa district on August 23 morning from her hotel. The police on Friday said Sagwan and Singh allegedly mixed some "obnoxious substance" in water and forced Phogat to drink it while partying at Curlies restaurant on the intervening night of August 22 and 23, adding they have been charged with murder.

The motive behind the alleged murder of Phogat could be "economic interest", a senior police officer had said.