In the ongoing investigation into BJP leader Sonali Phogat’s murder case, her associate Sudhir Sangwan has provided startling details about the night of her death in a confession to the Goa Police.
Sangwan, who was one of the accused in the Tiktok star’s murder case, gave a confessional statement to the Goa Police stating that Phogat had ordered MDMA and that her health deteriorated after an overdose, as per a report by Aaj Tak.
As per Sangwan’s statement, he, along with co-accused Sukhwinder Singh and Phogat, arrived in Goa on August 22 and Phogat asked for MDMA in the afternoon. “I, Sonali Phogat, and our friend Sukhwinder Singh came to Goa on 22nd August to stay at Grand Leoni Resort in Anjuna, North Goa. Checked into the hotel room around 2:30 in the afternoon. Around 4:30 pm Sonali Phogat asked Sukhwinder Singh to get MDMA drugs. All three of us had a desire to get high using MDMA drugs," he said as per the report.
Following this, Sangwan said that Singh came back in the evening and asked for Rs 12,000 to purchase four grams of MDMA. “He will get the MDMA drug from the room boy of Hotel Grand Leoni. I gave him 5,000 in cash and told him to give Rs 7,000 on his behalf. After that around 9 o’clock, Sukhwinder came with drugs. After this, all three of us [snorted] MDMA," he was quoted as saying in the report.
Sangwan said that the three went to the now partially demolished Curlies club after this at around 11:30 pm, adding that he carried the remaining MDMA in a plastic bottle and in his pocket.
“We had already booked a table near the dance floor at Curlies Club. On reaching there, we ordered a beer, orange juice, cocktail, cake, and a bottle of water. After this, I filled water in the bottle in which I had brought MDMA. Sonali later kept that bottle with her. After this, I, Sonali, and Sukhwinder took drugs alternately," he said.
The trio were dancing in the club until about 2:30 am, as per Sangwan’s confession, following which Phogat asked to be taken to the washroom. “There she vomited, due to which I realized that Sonali had an overdose of MDMA drugs. At that point, I put the packet of MDMA drugs in the empty bottle in which MDMA was mixed and I put the bottle in the flush tank of the lady’s toilet, then after that, we both went back to the dance floor. Sonali kept drinking water in between," he said.
At around 4:30 am, Sangwan accompanied Phogat into the washroom again, during which time she was staggering and heavily intoxicated, he said. “At around 4:30 in the morning, I again took Sonali to the lady’s toilet. During this, her feet were staggering due to intoxication. She sat down near the same toilet, then I supported her and took her to the toilet.
“She said that she has become heavily intoxicated with drugs. She won’t be able to walk. After this, she sat there on the toilet seat. I made her drink water and made her sit on the toilet floor and kept giving her water."
Sangwan’s confession comes just a day after two of the five accused arrested in Phogat’s murder case were granted bail by a special court in Goa on Monday. Ramachandra Mandrekar and Dattaprasad Gaonkar, who are accused of peddling drugs, were granted bail by the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) court in Mapusa town.
Earlier, the same court had granted bail to Edwin Nunes, owner of Curlies Restaurant.
Phogat, 43, was brought dead to a private hospital in Anjuna on August 23. The police had said she was given an “obnoxious" substance mixed with water to drink. Two of her colleagues, Sudhir Sagwan and Sukhwinder Singh, were arrested under the charge of murder.
The probe into the case was recently handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. A CBI team is in the state currently. The team visited the hotel where Phogat was staying as well as the partially demolished Curlies restaurant where she partied, officials said.
(With PTI inputs)
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