Sonali Phogat murder: Two detained; police say she was given 'obnoxious' chemical
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Chandigarh: Two persons were detained by the Goa Police on Friday in relation to the killing of actor and BJP leader Sonali Phogat from Haryana. Hours before the victim's death on Tuesday morning, the suspects, Sudhir Sangvan and Sukhwinder Singh, "intentionally gave the victim an obnoxious chemical substance in a liquid," according to the police.
According to Phogat's family, she may have been murdered in an effort to take her possessions. Her 2019 election affidavit said that she has assets of around Rs 2.74 crore. On Friday, Inspector General of Police Omvir Singh Bishnoi said: "Based on witness statements (and) CCTV footage, it was seen that Sudhir and Sukhwinder partied with the deceased and videos show that a substance was forcefully given to the victim by one of the accused. When confronted, Sukhwinder and Sudhir confessed that they intentionally gave her an obnoxious chemical in a liquid and made her drink it. Then she lost control and she was looked after (by the accused)…"
In response to a complaint made by Phogat's brother Rinku Dhaka, who accused Sudhir, Phogat's personal assistant, and Sukhwinder, his aide, of murder, police registered a murder offence on Thursday. They were taken into custody on Thursday. Bishnoi announced on Friday that the two had been arrested and would appear before a court on the following day.
According to Phogat's family, Sudhir may have only been a "front man," and there may have been a wider political plot behind her death, the Indian Express reported.
In his complaint, Rinku said that Phogat met Sudhir of Rohtak and Sukhwinder of Bhiwani during her 2019 Assembly election campaign.
"In 2021, a theft took place at her residence… After that, Sudhir terminated her cook's services and started taking care of her meals himself. Three months ago, Sonali called and told me that Sudhir had served her kheer after eating which she started shivering and her limbs stopped working. I questioned Sudhir, but he gave me an evasive reply," Rinku said, adding that Sudhir used to take care of Phogat's finances and paperwork.
Talking to The Indian Express, Rinku added, "We suspect that Sudhir and Sukhwinder murdered Sonali to grab her property. When we reached Goa, we asked him about her articles, including her wallet, ATM cards etc. He said they came to Delhi in a car that was parked in a flat in Gurgaon. We asked him about the flat's keys to which he said those were in the car and when we asked him about the car's keys, he refused to give it and went away".
According to the IGP, the accused led the victim to the restroom at 4.40 am after administering the "obnoxious chemical," where she remained for two hours without any explanation.