Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today said the state is open to ordering a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the murder case of Sonali Phogat, an actor and BJP leader, in Goa. "If that's what the family wants, we will do it," he told reporters in Chandigarh.
He also said that as per the family's wishes, a part of her viscera will be examined at a government lab in Chandigarh, besides Goa. "The most important thing is to heed by the family's wishes."
He said he'd spoken to the Goa Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant, and the police there to look beyond the initial theory that she died of a heart attack. "The family suspected something else, so I told the authorities in Goa to look into it. I have not yet got the details of the post-mortem, so I would not like to comment on that specifically," he said.
Asked if there will now be a probe in Haryana into other allegations -- such as sexual assault and theft - made by her family, he said, "Those are older incidents. A lot of things come out when something like this happens. We will see what complaints were made earlier. If there are any culprits, we will act as per the law."
Sonali Phogat, 42, died Tuesday morning in Goa, where she had gone with a group. She was brought dead to a hospital. But the family did not believe that she'd died of a heart attack.
After her brother filed a complaint alleging rape and murder, the Goa police registered a murder case today, against her personal assistant Sudhir Sangwan and his friend Sukhwinder Wasi, who were with Sonali Phogat when she arrived in Goa on Monday. They haven't yet been arrested.
Hours later, the post-mortem report came in, saying she had "multiple blunt force injuries". It said the cause of those injuries should be investigated.
It was not immediately clear why rape charges haven't been pressed.