Accused in Sonali Phogat `murder' case questioned
Panaji (PTI): Two associates of BJP leader from Haryana Sonali Phogat were questioned overnight by Goa Police in connection with her alleged murder, an official said on Friday.
Sudhir Sagwan and Sukhwinder Wasi, whose names figure as accused in the First Information Report (FIR) for murder, have been detained but not arrested yet, he added.
On Thursday, Deputy Superintendent of Police Jivba Dalvi had told PTI that they were arrested following autopsy on Phogat's body.
They have been detained, not arrested, said inspector Prashal P N Desai of Anjuna police station in North Goa district.
Both were questioned overnight, he said, refusing to disclose more details. Anjuna police added the murder charge to the case of `unnatural death' after forensic experts at the Goa Medical College and Hospital conducted autopsy on Phogat's body on Thursday morning and said in the report that there were multiple "blunt force injuries".
Phogat, a former TikTok star and social media influencer, arrived in Goa along with Sagwan and Wasi on August 22 and checked into a hotel in Anjuna. The next day she was brought dead to St Anthony Hospital. Initially, the doctors had said that she died of a suspected heart attack.
Meanwhile, the statements of all those who met Phogat or seen her since her arrival were being recorded, said a senior police official.
We are not ruling out any possibility, he added.
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No need for guv: DMK leader Kanimozhi
Chennai (PTI): Senior DMK leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi on Friday reiterated her party’s opposition to the office of the governor amid uncertainty over government formation in Tamil Nadu after a fractured election mandate.
Speaking to PTI Videos, Kanimozhi emphasised that the DMK’s demand for the abolition of the governor’s post remained unchanged, especially as questions arise over constitutional propriety during the current political transition.
"Our position that we do not need a governor at all is something the DMK has never changed at any point in time," she said.
When asked about the governor’s actions following the election results—particularly the delay in inviting the leading party to form the government—Kanimozhi pointed to what she described as the "inherent friction" between the office of the governor and the political interests of the state.
She said the current situation "raises a lot of questions" and requires introspection regarding constitutional procedures.
Kanimozhi described the election results as lacking a "clear mandate", which she identified as the primary reason for the prevailing political uncertainty in the state.
"What the people decide is supreme," she said, adding that while the mandate was not decisive, it must be respected.
The Thoothukudi MP attributed the ongoing delays and "many confusions" to the absence of a decisive majority for any single party.
She firmly dismissed rumours about the DMK potentially supporting the AIADMK from outside to help stabilise the government.
She described such reports as mere "speculation" and "rumours".
"We can’t be responding to every rumour," she said, declining to comment on the AIADMK’s claims regarding its numbers to form the government.
The political situation in Tamil Nadu remains fluid as stakeholders await the governor’s next constitutional step in an Assembly where no party has secured a clear majority.
The DMK and AIADMK—both of which suffered significant losses to the TVK—are reportedly exploring tactical manoeuvres to navigate the hung Assembly.
The TVK, with 108 seats and the support of Congress’s five MLAs, is still short of the majority mark. The DMK and AIADMK secured 59 and 47 seats, respectively.
