Day after, Sonali Phogat’s kin claim she was murdered, refuse to get post-mortem done

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters that a thorough investigation would be conducted into the matter.

“Director General of Police (Jaspal Singh) is monitoring the investigation. I have been informed by the DGP and doctors that based on preliminary findings, it looks like (she died due to) a cardiac arrest. The post-mortem report is awaited.”

Phogat family members, including brother Rinku Dhaka, nephew Monindar Phogat, and brother-in-law Aman Punia, who arrived in Goa Tuesday evening submitted a four-page written complaint at the Anjuna Police Station, alleging that it was “pre-planned murder”, and “a political conspiracy” by one of her staff members and his associate “to usurp her property”.

In the complaint, written in Hindi and signed by Rinku, it has been alleged that Phogat’s staff member called her another brother, Vatan Dhaka, at 8:30 am Tuesday and informed that she died during a film shoot. Rinku alleged in the complaint that after reaching Goa, he got to know that there was no film shoot planned.

He further alleged that three months ago, Phogat had told family members that often after dinner, she felt tension in limbs and found it difficult to move. “Her staff member had fired the cook saying he would handle her food requirement,” Rinku alleged, adding that Phogat had informed her family about her visit to Chandigarh from their home town Hisar but the visit to Goa was not part of the plan.

On Tuesday, Phogat’s sister Ramen Phogat had said that the BJP leader had also spoken to the family members and sounded disturbed.

“We had asked her to stay away from them and return to Hisar the next day,” Rinku told reporters outside the Anjuna police station.

Rinku claimed that Phogat had learnt that the said staff member was behind a theft of Rs 40 lakh from her Hisar home last year and she wanted to file a police complaint after returning from Goa. “When we asked the staff member for the key to her house in Hisar, he said that it was in a car and he will give it to us when he returns. She had another flat in Gurugram and when he asked for key to that, he said that the flat was his,” Rinku alleged, and claimed that the CCTV cameras, laptop and other crucial things from her farmhouse in Haryana have gone missing after her death.

He claimed the police have refused to register a First Information Report (FIR) against the two persons.

“We demand that an FIR be registered, but the police says that the post-mortem has to be conducted first. If our FIR is not registered, we won’t allow the post-mortem to be conducted. I want that a CBI probe should be conducted and my sister should get justice,” said Rinku.

Waiting outside the Goa Medical College and Hospital mortuary in Bambolim, Phogat’s brother-in-law said her body had turned blue. “How can the body turn blue if it was death by a heart attack,” he asked.

Phogat’s family alleged that Goa Police was “laidback” about the case.

Rinku said the family members would prefer the postmortem to be conducted at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi or at AIIMS, Jaipur. “She was a BJP leader for last 15 years. We will also appeal to the prime minister to help us in getting justice for her,” he said.

However, Goa Police said they have recorded statements of Phogat’s staff member and his associate. The police had also visited the hotel in Anjuna where Phogat had checked in on August 22 and examined the CCTV footage. Police officials, however, said that a post-mortem report would be necessary for them to take further action.

The Indian Express tried contacting Phogat’s staff member on his phone but it was switched off.

Meanwhile, government officials said that the National Women’s Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of Phogat’s death and it’s representatives reached Goa on Wednesday to meet the authorities concerned.