The Delhi Police on Monday said the autopsy report of SunandaPushkar indicated that the 52-year-old died of a drug overdose.
Quoting its sources in Delhi Police, NDTV reported on Monday that Union minister ShashiTharoor was given a clean chit in his wife Sunanda’s death based on a witness testimony.
The theory had been a subject of great speculation since Sunday, when sources said investigators had recovered three empty strips of the sedative alprax (0.5mg) from the hotel room where Sunanda had died.
Medical experts say that consumption of alprax – a medicine that should only be sold when prescribed by a doctor – in large quantities at a time hampers the functioning of the brain, and can cause a person to slip into coma.
A three-member AIIMS team had performed the post-mortem examination on Sunanda, the wife of junior HRD Minister ShashiTharoor, on Saturday. Following preliminary tests, team member Dr Adarsh Kumar had revealed to the media later the same day that her death was “sudden and unnatural”.
The final report was submitted to subdivisional magistrate (SDM) Alok Sharma on Monday. Refusing to talk about the findings, Sharma said: “The report is sealed, but I will submit my report to the police by tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon.” The police, however, said the report ruled out the presence of alcohol in Sunanda’s system.
Sunanda, who married Tharoor in 2010, died on Friday at a luxury hotel in the Capital’s Chanakyapuri area. Her body was discovered by her husband around 8.30pm on his return to the hotel after attending an AICC event.
Sunanda’s death came after a very public spat with her husband that saw her accuse him of having an affair with Pakistani journalist MehrTarar. In a series of scathing tweets, the businesswoman had also hit out at Tarar for “stalking” her husband, sparking an ugly exchange between the two women.
Meanwhile, Home Minister SushilkumarShinde has asked the Delhi Police to conduct an expeditious probe into the Sunanda’s death.
Referring to the letter Tharoor wrote him on Sunday, Shinde said: “He (Tharoor) has written to me and sought an expeditious probe. I have already talked to the persons concerned and they are doing it.” In his letter, Tharoor had expressed horror at the “reckless speculation rampant in the media” regarding the circumstances preceding his wife’s death.
On Monday, the former UN undersecretary general and Sunanda’s only son Shiv, 21, visited Hardwar to perform the final ritual of cremation – the immersion of her ashes in the Ganga.
