PANAJI
The Delhi sleuths of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have begun a probe from where Goa Police were reluctant.
On their second day in Goa, the CBI assisted by the Crime Scene Team of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) examined CCTV footage of the Anjuna resort where BJP leader Sonali Phogat and her aides Sudhir Sangwan and Sukhwinder Singh checked in hours before her death on August 23.
They questioned the staff of the resort, part of which was sealed by the Anjuna police during their investigation last month.
The team collected other related evidence and is also slated to visit the partially demolished Curlies shack which is undergoing demolition for violating the CRZ rules.
While the Goa Police left no stone unturned to cover every aspect of the high-profile case, the resort was purportedly given less attention despite revelations that it was allegedly a centre of the drugs trade.
A senior Goa police officer justified that they did take action by "recording statements of the staff and delaying the premises" which was an usual procedure of the investigation.
The Goan had reported government's initial findings that the 42-year-old was allegedly given drugs by Sangwan, and Singh around 7:30 pm which is when they also ordered snacks in the resort.
Phogat was forced to take the party drugs thrice within 6-7 hours in what proved her fatal. Alleged drug peddler Rama Mandrekar handed over the banned substance to one Dattaprasad Gaonkar near the resort gate who then sold the drugs to Sangwan and Singh for Rs 5000 and Rs 7000 respectively. The trio visitors then proceeded to Curlies shack where Phogat was drugged by her accused twice.
Sources said that the CBI officers will also interact with officers of Goa Police and the forensic experts of Goa Medical College and Hospital.
Less than a week after the Ministry of Home Affairs accepted the Goa government’s request to hand over the high-profile case to the central agency, the team consisting of a lady officer arrived in the State on Friday.
The Anjuna police submitted the case papers including evidence collected during its two-member team’s visit to Phogat’s native village in Hisar; Rohtak, Noida, and Gurugram.
The new probing agency has already recorded statements of Phogat’s family who maintained their stand for a probe against her killers and to unearth the motive behind hatching a murder conspiracy.
Sources said that the CBI team will write to the Chandigarh FSL requesting to expedite the deceased’s viscera samples report, a request sent by the North Goa police just recently.
