Several questions remain unanswered
Amid several unanswered questions surrounding the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor, the allegations of a senior All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) forensic expert about pressure on him to alter the autopsy report have added a new twist in this high profile case. The Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), who conducted the inquest, had opined that Sunanda’s death was not caused by drug overdose. Instead it was a case of homicide and it is upto the Delhi Police to probe this angle. To add to the confusion was the autopsy report by AIIMS that did not assign any cause of death. The preliminary viscera report also added to the confusion as the exact cause of death is yet to be determined.
According to the autopsy examination conducted by Dr Sudhir Gupta and his team, there were 15 injury marks on Sunanda’s hands. There was a ‘deep teeth bite’ on her left palm. There was abrasion on her cheek suggesting use of blunt force. Forensic experts had preserved the viscera samples and the same were sent to the Central Forensic Sciences laboratory (CFSl) for further tests. The autopsy report is an indication that a scuffle had taken place between Sunanda Pushkar and the persons present in the room. All the 15 ante-mortem injuries on her body were listed by Dr Sudhir Gupta. As far as cause of death is concerned, Dr Gupta in his report had said, “This is a case of poisoning. The circumstantial evidences are suggestive of alprazolam poisoning. All the injuries are caused by blunt force, simple in nature, not contributory of death and are produced in scuffle”. Interestingly, the case diary and search and seizure memorandum by the Sarojini Nagar police station officials had mentioned the recovery of two drugs, namely — Alprazolam and Excedrin.
Since Sunanda had died within seven years of her marriage to Tharoor, the area SDM was asked to conduct inquest proceedings by the South district police. Alok Sharma, the SDM of Vasant Vihar, in his report to Ameya Abyankar, the Deputy Commissioner of New Delhi district, said, “It seems to be a case of murder, not caused by drug-overdose. The police should probe this angle further to ascertain the exact cause that led to her death.”
There is more twist in the recorded statement of Narayanan, the staffer to Sunanda. He had given a detailed statement to the South district police how Sunanda and Shashi Tharoor had fought a day before her death. According to Narayanan, “There was huge quarrel and physical fight between husband and wife. It was around 12.30 am, when Tharoor came out of the room while Sunanda was talking to somebody over phone.
According to Naryanan’s statement, he got up at 6 am on January, 17, 2014 (the day Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in her room at leela lempinsky hotel) and as usual gave a foot massage to Sunanda. In his statement to the police, he said that while she massaged her feet, she did not respond and he thought that she must be fast asleep. Tharoor left room the hotel room by 7.30 am to attend a meeting of the Congress Committee at Talkotara stadium. It would be pertinent to mention here that the said meeting had started at 10.30 am and why did Tharoor leave three hours before is questionable, sources said.
Narayanan further stated that he had left the room by 10 am after an assistant to Tharoor one staffer and his driver came to room. Narayanan returned around 4.30 pm. “The conduct of these two men employed with Tharoor is highly skeptical and they should have been confronted by the sleuths,” sources further added. Narayanan said that was around 7.30 pm that day when he and one of the assistants of Tharoor informed the then Union Minister that Sunanda was not responding. It may be recalled that Sunanda was found dead in a room of leela Kempinsky hotel in South Delhi on the night of January 17, a day after her twitter spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar over an alleged affair with Tharoor.