Sonali Phogat linked to a Goa restaurant

An official statement informed that the Goa government on Friday morning began demolishing the restaurant at Anjuna in North Goa linked to the death of Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sonali Phogat for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.

Phogat was found partying at the restaurant, ‘Curlies’, located at Anjuna beach recently before her death. Its owner Edwin Nunes was one of the five arrested in the Phogat death case and later was granted bail.

According to NDTV, an official said, “The demolition squad of the district administration along with Anjuna police personnel arrived at the beach around 7.30 am to demolish the restaurant that was built in ‘no development zone’ in violation of the CRZ norms”.

The action against the restaurant was initiated after its owner failed to get respite from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against the 2016 demolition order of the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA).

The case was heard on September 6 by the NGT bench chaired by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel. The bench had upheld the order of GCZMA disposing of the petition filed by the restaurant management.

On Thursday, the district administration issued a notice asking its demolition squad to raze the structure on Friday. Deputy collector of Mapusa sub division Gurudas S T Desai had issued the notice.

According to police, Phogat, a former TikTok star and contestant on the reality show ‘Bigg Boss’, was allegedly drugged at the restaurant before her death on August 23.

(Inputs from NDTV)