Toxic twist: FBI lab report says Sunanda Pushkar was poisoned

The case of Sunanda Pushkar's mysterious death just got murkier.

Pushkar, 53, was found dead in Delhi hotel in January 2014, not long after she had publicly accused her husband, Shashi Tharoor, of having an affair with a Pakistani journalist.

On 15 January, NDTV reported, citing an as yet unpublished AIIMS report, that Pushkar had been poisoned.

Also read - Police Commissioner: Evidence indicate Sunanda Pushkar death was not natural

• AIIMS had commissioned a forensic laboratory of the FBI, the apex investigation agency of the US, to examine the viscera samples taken from Pushkar's body. And based on the FBI lab's findings, AIIMS has reportedly concluded that she died of poisoning.

• Delhi police chief BS Bassi seemed to confirm the finding. "I can say with certainty that the death was not natural." He, however, denied the possibility of radioactive poisoning, as suggested in the postmortem report.

• "It's 48 months since her demise, which is a long time. And the police has said she died of unnatural causes, which would include homicide, suicide or accidental death. There are very few chances of a death by accident in a case like this," said journalist Nalini Singh, a confidant of Sunanda who has long claimed that her death wasn't an accident.

• "While in the case of suicide, there is a clear case of culpability, in the case of homicide, there is abatement. It is for the police to find out what could be the case," she added.

• Nalini had previously told a national daily that Sunanda "mentioned IPL" in their last conversation. Sunanda had allegedly acted as a proxy for Tharoor, then a union minister, to buy a stake in the controversial Kochi IPL franchise.

• "I have no reason to disbelieve the police when they say the death was due to unnatural causes," she said.

• The Delhi police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat did not respond to calls for comment.

• On 17 January 2014, Sunanda was found dead in suite 345 of Leela Palace hotel in New Delhi.

• The postmortem report prepared by AIIMS described it as a "sudden, unnatural death" and said Sunanda had "certain injuries in her body". It, however, clarified that it was "unlikely that the injuries caused her death".

• The report indicated "drug overdose" as one possible cause of death. Another possible cause was poisoning

• Some doctors who had treated Pushkar a few days before her death issued a statement saying she wasn't suffering from any life-threatening diseases. This was reportedly "a crucial piece of information" for the investigators.

• In July 2014, the case took a controversial turn after Dr Sudhir Gupta, who had led the team of doctors that conducted Pushkar's postmortem alleged, in an affidavit to the Central Administrative Tribunal, that he had been pressured to "cover up the matter" and give a "tailor-made report".

• In September, AIIMS submitted a fresh forensic report to the Delhi police, who called it "inconclusive".

• In November, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy alleged that Tharoor had tried to hush up the investigation into his wife's death. He also claimed that Sunanda had been "silenced" because she wanted "to tell the truth about murky dealings" in the IPL.

I can say with certainty that Sunanda's death was not natural, says Delhi police chief BS Bassi

• Initially, the AIIMS autopsy report said Sunanda was killed with a poison containing "radioactive isotopes". But the FBI lab's report has rebuffed this theory.

• Bassi has also said that the radiation levels were "within standard safety norms".

• The report also suggested "drug overdose" as the possible cause of death.

• According to a newspaper report that Tharoor and Sunanda had fought the day before her death. It also claimed that two attendants were in her suite when Pushkar died, hinting at their involvement.

Shashi Tharoor at the Delhi Police SIT Office, Vasant Vihar, in February 2015. Photo: Arun Sharma/Hindustan Times/Getty Images

• On 13 November 2015, it was reported that the central home ministry had approved tapping of phones of several people, including close associates of Tharoor, in connection with Sunanda's murder.

• The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 allows tapping only in cases of "public emergency or in the interest of public safety, sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, maintaining of public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offence".

• The police has refused to clarify on what grounds the tapping was allowed. But according to a national daily, permission was granted on "suspicion" of the involvement of a "foreign hand" in the death.

• It was also reported that the tapped numbers were located in and around Leela Hotel on January 16-17, 2014.

• A report also claimed that the investigators had obtained a list of people who had flown in from and out to Pakistan and the Middle East.

• So far, according to the police, the suspects include Tharoor's domestic help Narain Singh, driver Bajrangi and friend Sanjay Dewan.

• All of them have undergone lie-detection tests but the SIT, which was later formed by the Delhi police to probe the case, has claimed they are "lying despite being very well acquainted with the facts" surrounding Sunanda's death.

• The police registered a murder case against them as well as some "unknown persons" in January 2015.

• Tharoor has been questioned at least thrice, but has not been subjected to a polygraph test.

• According to the police, polygraph tests have been conducted on "a total of six suspects, all of whom are prime witnesses".

The suspects: Tharoor's help Narain Singh, driver Bajrangi, friend Sanjay Dewan, & 'unknown persons'

• Bassi said the report from the FBI lab would be handed over to a medical board for examination. "The lab conducted analysis of various substances. And it should give an indication as to the reason behind her death once the doctors go through the report," Bassi said.

• The police has said they may question Tharoor again as the FBI report has "brought to fore certain details crucial to the probe".

• They also said the report would be released after "all legal issues connected with the case have been solved".

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