After murder charges Sunanda case goes to SIT

Poison angle prominent in medical board report

GN Bureau | January 7, 2015


Shashi Tharoor with wife Sunanda Pushkar
Shashi Tharoor with wife Sunanda Pushkar

Sunanda Pushkar’s death case  will be handled by a Special Investigation Team , said Delhi Police Chief B S Bassi on Wednesday. A year after Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, was found dead inside a hotel room, Delhi police on Tuesday had registered a case of murder against the unknown persons.

ALSO READ: AIIMS doc 'uses' Sunanda death case for internal wrangling


The police registered a case of murder after the conclusive report mentioned that “homicide cannot be ruled out in the matter.

"We have only said death was due to poisoning," said head of Forensic department Dr Sudhir Gupta.  Gupta has maintained his stand on January, 2014 report that the death was due to poisoning.

Bassi said, "We registered the murder case on the basis of a medical report which says that poison consumed by the victim was the cause of death. Poison was either given orally or injected in the body." The police waited for one year as wanted a conclusive report on the investigations.

Meanwhile, in a statement on Facebook, Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said, "I am stunned to hear that the Delhi Police have filed a case of murder against unknown persons in the demise of my late wife Sunanda. Needless to say I am anxious to see this case is investigated thoroughly and continue to assure the Police of my full co-operation. Although we never thought of any foul play in the death of my wife, we all want that a comprehensive investigation be conducted and that the unvarnished truth should come out. In the meantime I join all members of Sunanda's family in asking for full information about the basis on which the Police have come to this conclusion. We have not been provided with copies of the postmortem report and other reports of the inquiry like the CFSL report till date. We repeat our request for a copy of these reports to be provided to us immediately."

 Tharoor was minister of state for human resource development under Manmohan Singh government at the time of his wife Sunanda Pushkar's death.


Case Timeline
 

January 17, 2014: Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in suite no 345 of Hotel Leela Palace in New Delhi.

January 19, 2014: The postmortem report of Sunanda Pushkar revealed that it appeared to be case of unnatural death and she had several injuries on her body.

January 21, 2014: It was revealed by the SDM that Sunanda died of poisoning.

January 23, 2014: The case transfered to the crime branch of Delhi police.

July 01, 2014: The doctor, who headed the panel that conducted the post mortem on Sunanda Pushkar at AIIMS, filed an affidavit before Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), contesting an order to remove him from the post of head of forensic medicine.

July 02, 2014: In a statement on Facebook, Sunanda's husband Shashi Tharoor demanded a 'clear and definitive conclusion' of the case.

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