Sonali Phogat's brother Rinku suspects she was murdered by her personal assistant, his friend

The case of the unnatural death of Haryana BJP leader and actress Sonali Phogat in Goa on Tuesday has taken a curious turn with her family lodging a complaint with the Goa police suspecting murder by her personal assistant Sudhir Sangwan and his friend Sukhwinder.

The Goa police had on Thursday registered a murder case pertaining to her death under Section 302 IPC. The death was earlier presumed to be due to a suspected heart attack. According to reports reaching here, the post-mortem report said that there were 'multiple blunt force injuries over the body', though further investigation especially the manner of death was yet to be ascertained by the investigation officer.

Sonali's younger brother Rinku Dhaka who had rushed to Goa after getting the news about his sister's death told police said that she had spoken to her brother-in-law Aman Punia on August 22, alleging she was not feeling well and that she had been served food laced with some intoxicant.

Rinku alleged that Sonali had told Punia that Sangwan and his friend had committed a theft at her house in Hisar about three years ago and that she would lodge a case with the police after her return to Hisar on August 23.

She also reportedly said that Sangwan had also given her food laced with some intoxicant, made a video with her and was threatening to make the video viral on social media, Dhaka was said to have told police. Rinku also alleged that Sangwan could blackmail his sister and had kept her two cellphones, property documents and house keys.

It may be recalled that Sonali, 42, a BJP leader from Hisar who shot to fame because of her 'TikTok Sonali' videos had a huge following on the App. She was also a participant in the 2020 edition of the reality show Bigg Boss. Sonali who had joined BJP in 2008 had also contested the 2019 Haryana election from Adampur as a BJP candidate, taking on the then Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi, but lost.

She had courted controversy in 2019 for beating an official publicly in Hisar in Haryana.