BJP leader Sonali Phogat's brother claims she was murdered
Panaji, Aug 24: BJP leader Sonali Phogat's brother has filed a complaint with the Goa Police claiming that she was murdered by two of her associates.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the state police were conducting a detailed investigation into her death.
Considering the opinion of doctors and Goa Director General of Police (DGP) Jaspal Singh, it looks like she died due to a heart attack, Sawant told reporters.
However, Phogat's brother Rinku Dhaka alleged that a short while before her death, Phogat had spoken to her mother, sister and brother-in-law. She sounded disturbed and complained against her two colleague, he added.
He also claimed that the CCTV cameras, laptop and other crucial things from her farmhouse in Haryana have gone missing after her death. Three years ago, one of her aides sexually assaulted her after spiking her food and later blackmailed her, her brother further alleged in the police complaint. No First Information Report (FIR) has been registered over his complaint yet.
Phogat (42), a BJP leader from Hisar in Haryana who had found fame on Tik Tok, was brought dead to the St Anthony Hospital at Anjuna in North Goa on Tuesday morning, police had said earlier, adding that she died of a suspected heart attack.
The Anjuna police have registered a case of unnatural death.
Her family members arrived in Goa on Tuesday night.
Dhaka in his complaint filed with the Anjuna police claimed that two of Phogat's associates murdered her in Goa.
We had asked her to stay away from them and return to Hisar the next day (after Phogat spoke to her mother), Dhaka told reporters outside the Anjuna police station.
He claimed the police have refused to register a First Information Report (FIR) against the two persons.
If the FIR is not filed against them, we will not allow the postmortem to be conducted in Goa, he said.
Dhaka said the family members would prefer the postmortem to be conducted at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi or at AIIMS, Jaipur.
She was a BJP leader for last 15 years. We will also appeal to the prime minister to help us in getting justice for her, he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sawant said he has been following up the matter with Director General of Police Jaspal Singh.
The Goa Police are conducting a detailed investigation into the case, he said.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Jivba Dalvi earlier said Phogat arrived in Goa on August 22 and was staying in a hotel in Anjuna area.
She was brought to the hospital from the hotel around 9 am on Tuesday, he said.
Phogat was brought to the St Anthony Hospital after she complained of uneasiness, DGP Singh told PTI on Tuesday.
Singh said there was no foul play in the case, even as Phogat's family questioned the circumstances of her death and opposition parties in Haryana demanded a CBI probe.
There are no external injury marks on the body, the DGP said, adding that the postmortem report will reveal the exact cause of the death.
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TVK chief should be given opportunity to prove majority in TN Assembly: Omar
Srinagar (PTI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said there was no justification for the Tamil Nadu governor to stop TVK leader Vijay from forming the government, and he should be provided an opportunity to prove majority in the assembly.
Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Thursday rejected TVK chief Vijay's claim to form the government, stating that his party lacks the requisite numbers.
The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has fallen short of meeting a simple majority to form the government in Tamil Nadu. Though the Congress with five MLAs has offered support to TVK, Vijay's party falls short of a simple majority of 118 in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Abdullah said there was no justification for President's rule in Tamil Nadu in view of numerous Supreme Court judgements emphasising on inviting the single largest party to form the government and then prove its majority on the floor of the house.
"If we see the Supreme Court judgement, then there should be no President's rule. There are so many cases in which the SC has clearly stated that after the elections, the single largest party should be invited (for government formation) and they should be allowed to prove their majority in the assembly," Abdullah told reporters here when asked about the political situation in Tamil Nadu.
"It happened when (former prime minister) (A B) Vajpayee formed the government for 13 days, the President of India did not wait for him to show his numbers. The President of India invited him, the government was there for 13 days, but when Vajpayee did not have the numbers, he resigned," he said.
So, if we take the SC judgement, the J-K CM added, then the Tamil Nadu Lok Bhavan "has no justification to stop this process".
"Vijay should be allowed to form the government, and then he should be provided an opportunity to prove his majority and if he proves, he will remain, but if not, then he will have to resign," Abdullah said.
To a question on whether there would be impact of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Jammu and Kashmir, the CM said its impact remains to be seen in the rest of the country first as the assembly elections in the Union territory were not due till 2029.
"As of now it (SIR) has happened in Bengal only. Why are you worried about J-K? The elections are not to take place here till 2029. Let us first see its impact in the rest of the country. What we had to suffer (in J-K), we have. We suffered their delimitation, which was done to benefit the BJP and its friends. Let's see what happens in the future," he said.
On the reported remarks of Leader of Opposition in the J-K assembly, Sunil Sharma, that if the chief minister goes for cabinet expansion, then his party, the National Conference (NC), would suffer like the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and someone like Eknath Shinde would emerge here as well, Abdullah said all his MLAs stand firmly with the party.
"This tells about the intentions of the BJP. 'Aaya Ram Gaya Ram' (turncoats). Eknath Shinde left because the BJP helped him to leave. It is obvious that the LoP is impatient to hold the chair of the chief minister of J-K. I will only tell him that there is no Eknath Shinde in the National Conference. NC's MLAs stand firmly with the party," he said.
Abdullah said the cabinet expansion is on hold because statehood has not been restored to J-K.
"Cabinet expansion is not on hold because of any fear and that is why I regularly say that the LoP proves through statements like this that till the BJP does not get power, they will not allow us to work smoothly and will not make J-K a state again," he said.
Hitting out at the LoP and the BJP, the J-K CM said the people of J-K, especially those who voted for the BJP in the last elections, should remember that the LoP and his party "indulge in the politics of blackmail and the people here are intimidated in the name of statehood".
