New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS) Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar, found dead in mysterious circumstances here in January last year, was poisoned to death, Delhi Police chief B.S. Bassi said Tuesday.
"We have got the final medical report from AIIMS, and we have been told that it was an unnatural death... It was not a natural death," Bassi told the media.
"She died due to poisoning. Whether the poison was given orally or injected into her body is being investigated," he said, adding the report from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences was received Dec 29.
Bassi said the quantum of poison given to Pushkar, who was 52, had not yet been ascertained. "For that we will send her viscera abroad."
A murder case had now been registered, the police chief said.
A special team has been formed to probe the case. This will be overseen by Deputy Commissioner of Police Prem Nath.
Asked why it took almost a year for the final medical report to come, Bassi said the interim report spoke of poisoning but did not say it was an unnatural death. "Even overdose (of medicines) can be poisoning."
When IANS sought to know if Tharoor, a former central minister and now a Congress MP from Kerala, would be questioned again, he said: "We will do whatever is possible."
Bassi said Delhi Police had sought the final medical report from AIIMS several times. "Now that we have got it, we are registering a FIR."
Pushkar was found dead in a luxury hotel Jan 17, 2014, a day after she and Tharoor checked in because their house was allegedly getting painted. Both had been married twice earlier.
Tharoor was then the minister of state for human resource development in the Manmohan Singh government.
Tharoor was later named by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as one of the ambassadors of his Clean India campaign. After Tharoor praised the drive, a peeved Congress dropped him as one of its official spokespersons.
The medical investigation into Pushkar's death took twists and turns.
The first autopsy report, submitted to a magistrate Jan 20 last year, had said that Tharoor's wife died due to drug overdose. But it also reported a dozen injury marks on her body.
The final autopsy report that came out in July put the number of injury marks at 15. All the injuries were caused by blunt forces except one which was an injection mark.
Later, Sudhir Kumar Gupta, who headed the forensic team in AIIMS, alleged that he was pressured to show that Pushkar's death was natural.
The AIIMS denied the allegation, and Gupta was removed from the post.
A day before she was found dead, Tharoor and Pushkar had issued a joint statement saying they were distressed by a row over some unauthorized tweets posted from their twitter account and that both were "happily married and intend to remain that way".
The statement claimed that distorted accounts of comments allegedly made by Pushkar, alleging an affair between her husband and a Pakistani journalist, had led to some erroneous conclusions.
Waqf Fraud Case: ED registers case in Waqf fraud case, raids nine places in Gujarat
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday raided several places in Gujarat. The raids were conducted
Rohit was a waste of talent four years back: Dhoni
Melbourne, March 19 (IANS) Indian skipper Mahendra Singh said on Thursday that comparing opener
Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: PM Modi did nothing to resolve Naga political issue - Rahul Gandhi
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. Said- Despite ni
In the 45th match of IPL 2023, Lucknow Super Giants are taking on Chennai Super Kings. The match
The use of cryptocurrency is haram in Islam, Islamic organizations issued a fatwa in protest
Indonesia's Islamic organization has issued a fatwa regarding cryptocurrency. On behalf of the Ul
Inclusive growth top priority of government: President
New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee Monday said that inclusive growth was a top
Narendra Modi Speech in Lumbini: PM Narendra Modi said in Lumbini, the birthplace of Mahatma Budd
Photos of Suhana Khan enjoying the rain with mother Gauri in Mannat's balcony
The weather in Mumbai has become very pleasant. In such a situation, the celebs are seen enjoying
Pakistan Feared; Pakistan alerts army for fear of surgical strike
In India, many farmers' organizations are agitating these days with the demand for the withdrawal
After the floods caused by heavy rains in many areas of North India, now the situation has become
