Sunanda Pushkar case: Delhi Police mulls sending viscera samples to UK lab

New Delhi: Delhi Police are considering sending viscera samples of former union minister Shashi Tharoor’s wife Sunanda Pushkar, who was found dead in a hotel here in January, to forensic laboratories abroad to determine the type of poison that is suspected to have caused her death. The AIIMS medical board had, in its second report submitted to police recently, confirmed poisoning as the reason behind her death but did not mention the type of poison that caused her death. [caption id=“attachment_1801879” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sunanda Pushkar in a file photo. PTI[/caption] They had listed some kind of poisons most of which were radioactive isotopes that cannot be detected by labs in India. According to a senior police official, police are now mulling sending the viscera samples to a UK-based laboratory which has facilities to test all kinds of poisons. “With this almost clear that Sunanda died of poisoning, the biggest question which remains in the case is that the kind of poison (used) and how it reached her body. If these question can be answered, the case could head to its logical end,” the official said on condition of anonymity. As of now, the police have asked the AIIMS panel of doctors to redo their investigation and name the poison which caused Sunanda’s death but if it fails to do so, the samples will then be sent abroad. The three mobile phones and a laptop of the deceased have already been sent to a forensic laboratory in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, for investigations to check whether anything was deleted from the gadgets post her death. Today too, police questioned some people who were related to the case but senior officials refused to divulge the identities of these people and what they told police. The AIIMS panel of doctors had earlier said the police had not shared with it the photographs of scene of occurrence, statements and circumstantial evidences with them. Police had not quizzed a single person in the last nine months nor did it try to inspect the ‘crime’ scene. As the police try to reinvestigate the case from scratch, there are two possibilities in the case, first is that the police register a fresh FIR in the case and second it closes investigations stating that no foul play was found. It was only after the AIIMS report that the police got suite number 345 of Leela Palace Hotel, where Pushkar was found dead, opened. Police had also called upon the AIIMS doctors and experts from FSL to inspect the room during which fluid marks were found on Sunanda’s bed sheet, the carpet and a broken glass in the room. These articles have also been sent to forensic labs for examination. The suite of the five star hotel, had remained sealed and was opened for the first time since the incident. Police had also got information regarding Pushkar’s twin email accounts from Yahoo and Google with details of whom she was in touch during her last days. A list of these people through their IP addresses was made by the police and they were quizzed about the conversations. Their statements are now being tallied with each other and also with those which were recorded before the SDM during the initial investigation. The medical board concluded that Pushkar’s vital organs like kidney, lungs and liver were functioning normally and that her death was caused by poisoning. Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi had said the fresh reports submitted to them were “inconclusive” and “based on conjecture”. PTI