'Tharoor had no role in Sunanda's death, but can't say it's suicide yet'

The Delhi police probe into the death of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Union minister Shashi Tharoor, indicates that her husband had no prima facie role to play in it.

Officers part of the investigation told Redif.com that there is nothing at the moment to suggest that her husband had anything to do with her death.

However, the police source also informed that they have not yet concluded it is a case of suicide.

“We cannot say for sure if the drug overdose was her own doing or was it slipped to her by another person. We are still examining the CCTV footage which shows a man entering her room a couple of hours before her death. It could be one of the hotel staff who claims to have seen her before she died. This aspect would require more probing,” the officer said.

The police recorded the testimony of several persons including a person who works at the five-star hotel. He told the police that he had seen Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor alive two hours after her husband left the hotel. Tharoor had left to attend the All India Congress Committee meet on Friday and found his wife dead on his return.

“This is what made us believe that prima facie he has nothing to do with the death of his wife,” the officer pointed out.

The autopsy report indicates that the death occurred due to a drug overdose. There were nearly 27 Alprax tablets found in her body. The police had recovered three strips of these anti depressant tablets from the hotel room.

In addition to this the autopsy report shows a couple of injury marks on her body. These marks, according to the police, had nothing to do with her death. They were not fresh wounds, the autopsy report suggests.

Among the several testimonies that have been recorded by both the police and the sub-divisional magistrate there is an indication that Sunanda was depressed and did have panic bouts.

Image: Tharoor sits in an ambulance as he waits outside a mortuary to receive his wife Sunanda Puskhar Tharoor's body in New Delhi on Saturday

Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reurters