Sonali Phogat death: Autopsy concluded; DGP to brief media later today

Panaji, Aug 25: Two days after the death of BJP leader Sonali Phogat in Goa, the autopsy was conducted at a state-run hospital on Thursday after her family members gave consent for it, a hospital official said. The findings have not yet been made public.

Phogat (42), a BJP leader from Hisar in Haryana who had found fame on Tik Tok, was brought dead at the St Anthony Hospital in Anjuna area of North Goa district on Tuesday morning, a police official earlier said, adding that she died of a suspected heart attack.

The police subsequently registered a case of unnatural death. A team of forensic experts conducted the autopsy on Thursday at the Goa Medical College and Hospital at Bambolim near here, a GMCH official said. Later, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters in Panaji that state Director General of Police Jaspal Singh was personally monitoring the investigation into the case of Phogat's death.

The DGP will brief the media on the investigation into this case later in the day, he said. The autopsy was earlier scheduled at the GMCH on Wednesday. But, Phogat's brother Rinku Dhaka on Wednesday claimed she was murdered by two of her associates. He said the family will allow the postmortem only after the Goa Police register a First Information Report (FIR) against the two persons.

On Thursday morning, Sonali Phogat's nephew Mohinder Phogat told PTI that the family has given consent for the postmortem with a rider that the entire procedure be video-graphed. "The police have told us that the FIR in connection with our complaint would be filed after conducting the postmortem," he said. Sonali Phogat's brother Dhaka had filed a complaint with the Goa Police, claiming she was murdered by two of her associates.

He alleged that a short while before her death, Sonali Phogat had spoken to her mother, sister and brother-in-law. She sounded disturbed and complained against her two colleague, he added. He also claimed that the CCTV cameras, laptop and other crucial things from her farmhouse in Haryana have gone missing after her death.

Three years ago, one of her aides sexually assaulted her after spiking her food and later blackmailed her, Dhaka further alleged in the police complaint. No FIR has been registered over his complaint yet. CM Sawant on Wednesday said the state police were conducting a detailed investigation into Sonali Phogat's death. He had said that considering the opinion of doctors and DGP Jaspal Singh, it looks like she died due to a heart attack.