Sonali Phogat's death: Brother claims she was murdered; detailed probe launched

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and actor Sonali Phogat died of a suspected heart attack on Monday night. Now, the brother of the Haryana BJP leader has raised questions about her death, claiming that she was murdered by two of her associates.

Her brother has even filed a formal complaint with the Goa Police. Sonali's family has even demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Several rumours were circulating on social media platforms after the untimely demise of the 42-year-old.

Rinku Dhaka, who is Sonali's brother alleged that before her death, Phogat had spoken to her mother, sister and brother-in-law. He mentioned that she sounded disturbed and complained against her two colleagues.

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Rinku also claimed that the CCTV cameras, laptop and other crucial things from her farmhouse in Haryana have gone missing after her death.

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Dhaka told reporters outside the Anjuna police station, "We had asked her to stay away from them and return to Hisar the next day (after Phogat spoke to her mother)."

As per the reports, Rinku claimed the police have refused to register a First Information Report (FIR) against the two persons he has mentioned. "If the FIR is not filed against them, we will not allow the postmortem to be conducted in Goa," he said.

The family is in shock. Her sisters said they couldn't accept that she died of a heart attack.

"My sister cannot have a heart attack. She was very fit. We demand a proper investigation by CBI. My family is not ready to accept that she died of a heart attack. She had no such medical problem," one of her sisters, Rupesh, told news agency ANI.

"I received a call from her the evening before her death. She said she wanted to talk over WhatsApp and said that something fishy is going on... later, she cut the call and then didn't pick up," she added.

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Meanwhile, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters in Panjim, Goa, "We're taking it seriously. The (police chief) is himself monitoring. Investigation and postmortem reports will come to him. A preliminary assessment points at cardiac arrest."

Sawant said he has been following up on the matter with Director General of Police Jaspal Singh. "The Goa Police are conducting a detailed investigation into the case," he added.

Sonali was "brought dead" at the St Anthony Hospital at Anjuna in North Goa on Tuesday morning. Amid concerns, the post-mortem will be carried out by a medical board.

(With inputs from agencies)

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