Sunanda death row: Shashi Tharoor demands swift probe - Times of India

NEW DELHI: Former Union minister Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday refused to answer media queries on the allegations made in the autopsy case of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. However, in a statement shared on Facebook, Shashi Tharoor demanded the authorities to conduct a rapid and transparent probe.

"Upon the tragic loss of my wife Sunanda and from the very beginning, I have requested for a thorough investigation by the authorities to be conducted and concluded rapidly and transparently. The Pushkar family has taken the same view and we have all fully co-operated with the authorities. I reiterate my request to bring this protracted inquiry to a clear and definitive conclusion at the earliest, so as to put all speculation to rest," Tharoor shared on Facebook.

According to Times of India reports today, the head of the forensics department at AIIMS, Dr Sudhir Gupta, has said that he was pressurized to give a doctored report in Pushkar's death case.

Gupta headed the team of experts who conducted the postmortem on Pushkar's body. He has alleged in his complaint to the Health Ministry and the CVC that he was pressured by top officials to show that Pushkar's death was 'natural'.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi told media said that the Sunanda Pushkar death case will be re-examined, and added that all possibilities will be taken into consideration.

"We will examine this new development, and if we find it relevant for our case, then we will do its cognizance. If it is necessary to talk to Dr. Sudhir Gupta in this case then we will do so and if it is required to bring on record the affidavit apparently filed by him before the learned Central Administrative Tribunal, then that will also be done. We will do whatever is required for the case," said Bassi.

"The police is working on the case under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code and the SIT is also investigating the matter," he added.

Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor with husband Shashi Tharoor. (TOI file photo)

Sunanda Pushkar, 52, was found dead in her hotel room in Leela Palace in New Delhi's Chanakyapuri on January 17.

Prior to her death, Pushkar had been involved in a Twitter scandal allegedly involving her husband Shashi Tharoor and a Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar.

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