അസാധാരണമായ ഒരു മരണം ഇന്ത്യയെ പിടിച്ചു കുലുക്കിയ കഥ | BS Chandra Mohan | Mlife Daily

On January 16, 2014, Sunanda Pushkar and Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar had a spat on Twitter over the latter’s alleged affair with Shashi Tharoor. Sunanda accused Mehr of being an ISI agent and of stalking her. Mehr refuted the allegations, calling them 'absurd'. Hours later, the tweets were deleted from Sunanda's timeline.

The following day, she was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Hotel Leela Palace in New Delhi. Two days later, the doctors who conducted a postmortem on her body at AIIMS said that it appeared to be a case of sudden, unnatural death. She had injury marks on her body and nominal traces of anti-anxiety drug Alprazolam were found in her stomach.

The case was handed over to the Delhi police. The case became murkier after an AIIMS doctor, Sudhir Gupta, claimed that he was being pressured to manipulate the autopsy report. Gupta said Pushkar had fifteen injury marks on her body, most of which did not contribute to death. But, there were two other marks — an injection mark and some bite marks - which aroused suspicion. The report also said that there was a presence of excess amount of alprazolam drug in her stomach.

On January 6, 2015, Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi said Pushkar did not commit suicide but was murdered. Meanwhile, Sunanda's viscera samples were sent to Washington for examination. FBI said that the radiation in her viscera samples was within permissible levels and did not cause her death.

Subramanian Swamy's allegations

Subramanian Swamy has maintained throughout that foul play was involved in Sunanda's death. He alleged that there was evidence she was murdered using Russian poison. He requested the Delhi High Court to hold a court-monitored SIT probe, however, the plea was turned down with the court terming his PIL as a “textbook example of political interest litigation”.

Delhi Police on Shashi Tharoor's involvement

On May 15, 2018, the Delhi Police charged Congress MP Shashi Tharoor with abetting the suicide of his wife. In a 3,000-page charge sheet, police also accused Tharoor of subjecting Pushkar to cruelty and sought to summon him to court. Tharoor had been charged under Sections 498-A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the IPC by the police.

Delhi court's ruling on Shashi Tharoor's involvement

Shashi Tharoor was cleared of all charges by a Delhi court on August 18, 2021 of charges linked to the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.

Tharoor then issued a statement, saying, "Most grateful, your honour. It's been seven-and-half years of absolute torture. I really appreciate it.

He said that his family would finally mourn Sunanda Pushkar in peace. "This brings a significant conclusion to the long nightmare which had enveloped me after the tragic passing of my late wife Sunanda. I have weathered dozens of unfounded accusations and media vilification patiently, sustained my faith in the judiciary, which today stands vindicated," he wrote....