Actress-politician Sonali Phogat, 42, was declared dead at the St. Anthony Hospital at Anjuna in North Goa on Tuesday morning. Her family questioned initial reports that she had died of cardiac arrest. Her brother Rinku Dhaka filed a complaint with the Goa Police alleging that his sister was raped and murdered by her assistant Sudhir Sangwan and his friend Sukhwinder Singh. Yesterday, Goa Police arrested Sudhir and Sukhwinder in connection with Sonali’s murder. Both accused had accompanied Sonali to a party in Goa.

Addressing the media, Goa IGP Omvir Singh Bishnoi said, “CCTV video establishes that one of the accused forcefully made Sonali consume a substance. She was given some obnoxious chemical and after that, she was not in control. At 4:30 am, the suspect took her to the toilet and there is no explanation of what they did for two hours. When confronted, accused Sukhwinder Singh and Sudhir Sangwan confessed they intentionally mixed an obnoxious chemical into a liquid and made her drink it. They have been arrested and will be produced in court soon. Seems that she died under the influence of this drug.”

Meanwhile, Sonali’s colleagues from showbiz are shocked at the turn of events. They are hoping that the entire truth will be out soon. Vindoo Dara Singh, who had supported Sonali when she was in Bigg Boss 14 two years ago, said, “Her death came as a shock and now to hear that it was not a natural death is a bigger shock. It is very upsetting. There must have been a reason why her family members felt that somebody tried to kill her. We don’t know much about other people’s lives. But whatever the truth is, I hope it comes out. Everyone wants to know the truth because now there will be a lot of speculation around it.”

He adds, “I am sure the police will investigate this fully and get to the bottom of it. I hope justice prevails and people get to know what really happened in the case of Sonali’s untimely death.”

Another actor, who didn’t want to be named, said, “Sonali was a strong woman and was also looking forward to pursuing her acting career. Whatever happened is very sad. I hope proper investigations are carried out.”

Hours before Sonali’s funeral in Haryana on Friday, her family members expressed satisfaction over the police investigation carried out so far. Addressing the media, Sonali’s brother Rinku said, “We are sure that it was a murder. We are satisfied with the probe so far.”

Rinku also claimed that Sonali had no plans to visit Goa and she was brought there as per a conspiracy. He said, “There was no movie shoot. Two rooms in the hotel had been booked only for two days. The film shooting was supposed to happen on August 24, but rooms were only booked for August 21-22.”

Sonali, who has acted in Haryanvi films and a couple of TV shows, contested the 2019 Haryana Assembly election as a BJP candidate.

— ANI with inputs by Hasti Doshi)