No One Killed Sunanda Pushkar? Cops Likely To File Closure Report In High-Profile Case

So no one killed Sunanda Pushkar, the wife of Congress leader and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor?

With the high-profile case heading towards being an "unsolved mystery", the Delhi Police is likely to file a closure report.

The investigators failed to make any headway even after taking the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States.

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This is the only murder case in the country where FBI's help was sought by an investigating agency. That was in a bid to end the mystery behind her death that took place on January 17, 2014 at room number 345 of Hotel Leela Palace in Chanakyapuri.

Earlier, the help of foreign agencies had been sought in terror cases only.

In addition, the cops also questioned Pakistani columnist and Tharoor¡¯s friend Mehr Tarar in a Delhi hotel in February this year to ascertain whether she had played any role in the case that witnessed several twists and turns over the past two-and-a half years. Tatar sparred on Twitter with Sunanda days before the latter was found dead in the hotel suite. ¡°During questioning in February Tarar denied of having affair with Tharoor,¡± said an officer who is part of the probe team.

The Delhi Police has sent a report to the Union Home Ministry on July 22 detailing the status of the investigation into the death of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor¡¯s wife and how the case was heading towards being an "unsolved mystery".

Reuters

"The report is very exhaustive¡­ So far the investigators have failed to reach any conclusion. It is likely that the case will remain as unsolved mystery if they do not establish motive behind the murder,¡± said a senior home ministry official.

The case has been mired in controversy and contradictions with the police brass had initially alleged "pressure" on the local police and handed the probe over to the Crime Branch. During the UPA regime, the police claimed that she died of drug overdose but with the regime change at the Centre in 2014 they registered a murder case against unknown persons, without attributing any motive.

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Sources in the Delhi Police said a chargesheet will be filed in the court soon as a murder case was earlier registered against unknown persons. "We have not been able to corroborate the murder with material evidence," said a top cop.

"There is something fishy about the police¡¯s probe. Initially police said Sunanda died of drugs overdose. It was shocking they registered a murder case without finding any material evidence to corroborate the charge. They just kept the suspense alive by making sensation turns," said Ved Marwah, former Delhi Police commissioner.

Asked whether the murder case was registered in haste, he said: ¡°I do not understand what prompted then police commissioner B S Bassi to order for registration of murder case,¡± he said.

Bassi, who has had several run-ins with Arvind Kejriwal in his first and ongoing stint as Delhi chief minister, had come under fire from court for mishandling JNU agitation. He retired in February this year.

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In January this year the FBI report had said Sunanda died of an overdose of the anti-depressant drug alprazolam, raising a question mark on the authenticity of the two forensic reports in India. An AIIMS post-mortem had diagnosed alprazolam poisoning within days of Sunanda¡¯s death. But Hyderabad¡¯s forensic lab initially denied poisoning and made a U-turn later. It said she died of poisoning but failed to identify the poison, prompting a plea for FBI help.

Empty strips of Alprax (alprazolam) 27 tablets had been found by Sunanda¡¯s bedside and sources said she had been taking anti-depressant. The FBI report showed presence of Alprax in stomach and its contents, spleen, liver section, half of each kidney, blood sample. The urine-wet clothing, bed cover and bed sheets also confirmed the death was due to excessive ingestion of tablet alprazolam.

A medical board which examined the FBI report, however, didn¡¯t rule out the overdose having been injected. It cited a prick mark on one of her arms.

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"The dozens of unexplained injury marks including teeth bite mark are suggestive of active scuffle prior to death," it had said, adding that further legal investigation was needed for a medical conclusion.

Sources said police are awaiting a final report from the medical board which will be part of the chargesheet.

The police had questioned Tharoor and his aids and also conducted polygraph test on them.

"If needed we will conduct another round of polygraph test on Tharoor and his aides before filing the chargesheet by August," a senior official said.