Sunanda Pushkar death: 8 angles the SIT says it will be looking closely at

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar on 17 January last year has a tough job on its hands given the political sensitivity of the case. The five-member team, to begin with, will be clearing the air on some basic facts of the case. Former Union minister Shashi Tharoor will come into the picture at some later point; right now here are the angles they would be taking a close look at. Why a five-star hotel, why not official bungalow? Sunanda along with Tharoor checked in at Leela Palace after returning from Kerala on 15 January last year. The husband-wife duo stayed in suite number 307 but the next day (16 January), Sunanda changed the room and shifted to suite number 345, where her body was discovered on 17 January. “It is being said that Tharoor checked in because their official residence (at Lodhi Estate) was being renovated. We want to check the authenticity of the claim. We will also try to know as to why she changed her room a day after their check in,” a member of the SIT told Firstpost. [caption id=“attachment_2037831” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Getty images[/caption] Who entered the room? At least two persons, who were not associated with her, are believed to have entered the room after her death and cleaned up evidence. “We need to know who entered suite number 345 (where Sunanda was staying) between 6:30 am to 4:30 pm on 17 January last year. As per their domestic help Shiv Naran Singh’s statement, the duo had fight from 12:30 am to 4:30 am. Sunanda was heard speaking to someone over phone from 4:30 am to 5 am," the SIT member said. “They again started fighting till 6:30 am after which Shashi Tharoor left the room suite and went to another room to sleep. Sunanda was found dead at 4:30 pm. We are trying to know who entered the room from 6:30 am to 4:30 pm,” he said adding that two suspicious persons are leant to have entered the room during the period. CCTV footage The SIT member debunked the reports in the media that CCTV cameras were found switched off on the floor where the Throors stayed. “We are trying to get access to the CCTV footage of the floor, which will help us reach any conclusion,” he said. When asked about Subramanium Swamy’s allegation that all CCTV cameras of the particular floor was not functional that day, he said, “It’s baseless. We have collected all evidence from the spot…We are probing if this murder was done by an insider or outsider because getting access to her room for an outsider would have been difficult.” Injury no. 10 The investigators are probing how Sunanda came to have 15 injury marks on her body at the time of her death. Were these self-inflicted or a sign of struggle with someone? “Sunanda’s body had 15 injury marks, which strengthens our suspicion that it was not a suicide but a murder. All injuries were caused by a blunt force and non-contributing to death expect the two – one at 3 cm above right wrist (injury number 10) caused by the needle of syringe and the other was a teeth bite mark (injury number 12).  The injury number 10 appeared to have been done forcefully which is an indication that the poison was injected into her body. The injuries number 1 to 15 is of various duration ranging from 12 hours to 4 days which hint towards a scuffle. We examining all statements and circumstantial evidences about the reason for physical injuries on Pushkar’s body,” said the police official who is part of the SIT. The police is also learnt to have found broken glass from the floor of the room where Sunanda’s body was found. The Alprax lie Two used Alprax strips (15 tablets in each strip), an anti-anxiety drug, were recovered from the crime scene. However, viscera report does not show its presence. “This appears to have been thrown there to prove it to be a case of suicide. We will try to establish who prescribed her Alprax tablets, since none of her records mention a prescription of this medicine,” the official said. Foreigners’ angle “Three persons stayed in the hotel for five days from 13 to 18 January last year using fake passports. As the information available with us, they were foreign nationals. Their involvement cannot be ruled out as well. It is extremely important for us to probe every possible angle so that we can reach a conclusion,” he said. Money and IPL links The investigators are also probing if the murder was carried out because of financial reasons and had anything to do with her high profile handling of IPL teams. “We are probing if she was killed due to financial reasons, including her various properties in India and abroad. We are also trying to find out whether the murder has any link with IPL,” the investigator said. Pushkar has reportedly left investments, properties, investments, antiques and watches in India, Canada and the UAE. As per her declaration filed with the government, she owned a house in Ontario in Canada, which is also worth around Rs 3.5 crore and 12 flats in Dubai worth around Rs 93 crore. The annual declaration of assets filed by the husband and wife to the government said Sunanda had shares, deposits and cash in various currencies valued at around Rs 7 crore. In addition, she inherited a collection of antique shahtoosh shawls from her grandmother worth around Rs 30 lakh. She has also kept antique armour and a Humayuni sword from Mughal Emperor Humayun’s era in storage in Canada, but its value is not known. Sunanda started getting media attention in India after it became known that she had been given sweat equity worth Rs 700 million in Rendezvous Sports World. In 2010, Rendezvous Sports World bid for the IPL cricket team Kochi Tuskers Kerala, which represented Tharoor’s native state Kerala. Just 18 days after the IPL bid, Sunanda was made a director of the company on 25 February 2010. There were allegations that Shashi Tharoor had misused his ministerial position to ask for a free stake in the company and that Sunanda was acting as a proxy for him. The controversy ultimately resulted in Shashi Tharoor’s resignation as a minister. Though the politician has not been summoned by the police for interrogation, sources say he will be asked in a day or two to join the investigation. The Congress MP has said that he will cooperate with the police in the probe. See below a copy of the FIR in the case: