Sonali Phogat, a content creator, rose to fame with her TikTok videos.
A day after a Khap mahapanchayat was held in Haryana's Hisar district urging a Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) probe in the alleged murder of BJP leader Sonali Phogat, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant today announced that the murder case will be transferred to the central agency. Days after her murder, the family of Sonali Phogat had met the Chief Minister of Haryana demanding the same.
Mr Sawant said he has complete confidence in the state police, and the investigation was going on very well, but he will write to Home Minister Amit Shah for the transfer after repeated demands from people in Haryana.
Mr Sawant told reporters in Panaji that the Goa Police have done an "excellent investigation" into the case and have also got some vital clues.
"But due to the demand of people from Haryana and also Sonali Phogat's daughter, we have decided to write to the Union Home Ministry to hand over this case to the CBI,"Mr Sawant said.
"I will personally write a letter to the Union Home Ministry," he said.
Seeking details into the circumstances of her death, the family of Ms Phogat, particularly her young daughter, has been demanding a central agency probe into the case.
The police had initially said the 42-year-old BJP leader died of a suspected heart attack and registered a case of "unnatural death". However, Sonali Phogat's sisters said they couldn't accept that she died of a heart attack. They also said she had "insinuated something" on the phone.
After Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar intervened as well, police had filed a murder case. In her post-mortem report, it came to light that "there are multiple blunt force injuries over the body". The report said police need to investigate the cause of death.
Two security camera videos had triggered speculation about the circumstances of her death. One showed Sonali Phogat staggering on her way out of a nightclub in Goa, hours before she was declared dead, and another showed her being forced to drink on the dance floor.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had stayed the demolition of Curlies restaurant -- where Sonali Phogat was allegedly drugged and was later declared dead -- in Goa soon after its demolition began, on the condition that no commercial activities will take place there.
The Goa Police had arrested five people, including two of Ms Phogat's aides, in connection with the case.
The police have booked her two aides on the charge of murder.
Sonali Phogat, a content creator, rose to fame with her TikTok videos. She debuted as a TV anchor in 2006 before joining the BJP two years later.