On 1st death anniversary of Sonali Phogat, family members still clueless about reasons behind murder

New Delhi, Aug 23 (IANS) Family members of Big Boss celebrity and politician Sonali Phogat are yet to know the main motive behind her alleged murder as it has been a year since she passed away.

Tiktok-star-turned politician Phogat's murder case is still under investigation by the CBI, and the family has been seeking justice. 

On her first death anniversary, the family members alleged that they are still waiting for proper answers. What was the motive behind her murder? Why was she killed?

On the intervening night of August 22-23 last year, Sonali Phogat died of a drug overdose in Goa. Sonali's brother Rinku Dhaka and her brother-in-law who got the message of her death, reached Goa for the identification purpose and held Sonali's PA Sudhir Sangwan responsible for  her death.

"On August, 22 my sister Sonali Phogat visited Goa with her PA Sudhir Sangwan. On August 23, I got a call from Sudhir Sangwan who told me that my sister died due to heart-failure. I sensed something fishy and we took a flight to Goa. When we saw her body for the identification process, her body was totally blue and there were brutal injury marks on her body as well," Rinku Dhaka told IANS.

He further said that after discussion with the family members, they told the Goa Police to register an FIR against Sudhir Sangwan under the charges of murder as he was eyeing property of his sister.

"Later, the Goa police after receiving the postmortem reports, registered an FIR against Sudhir Sangwan and one of his associate Sukhwinder. The Goa police later arrested both from Goa on August 26," Dhaka further said.

During the course of investigation, the Goa Police camped in different cities of Haryana.

Goa Police personnel stayed in Hisar district for more than five days and searched her farmhouse located near village Dhandoor, her house located in Hisar city, checked her bank statements, personal documents, as well as her property related documents. They also took details from the local police.

Investigators had maintained distance from the media and did not reveal anything related to the probe.

Later, the Goa Police had also visited the house of prime accused Sudhir Sangwan and Sukhwinder Singh in Rohtak and Gurugram.

The case was earlier probed by the Goa Police and the investigation was later transferred to the CBI on the demand of Phogat's family.

"The CBI filed a 1,000 page chargesheet before the judicial magistrate's court in Mapusa, Goa, the agency's Delhi unit has said that Sudhir and Sukhwinder forced Sonali to consume drugs (MDMA) before her death. 

"But the agency must clear what was the main motive behind her death. We want to know one thing only, what is the motive behind her murder. The court had even granted bail to the main accused Sudhir Sangwan on June 23, 2023," Rinku Dhaka said.

Sonali Phogat, who had contested the 2019 assembly polls from Adampur assembly segment of Haryana's Hisar, lost to BJP leader Kuldeep Bishnoi by over 29,000 votes.

Phogat hit the limelight after she was selected as a contestant for TV show Big Boss. Sonali was with BJP since 2008 and was also popular on different social media applications.