“Police trying to set me up” Shashi Tharoor

Timeline of the case which has seen many twists and turns.
January 17, 2014: Sunanda was found dead in room number 345 of Hotel Leela Palace, Delhi. This happened a day after her twitter spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar over the latter’s alleged affair with Tharoor.
January 19: Post-mortem was conducted on Sunanda at AIIMS. Doctors said that it appeared to be a case of sudden and unnatural death. They had also said that certain injury marks were found on the body.
January 21: The sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), said in his report that Tharoor’s wife died due to poisoning.
January 23: The probe into Pushkar’s death was transferred to Delhi Police Crime Branch.
January 25: The case is transferred back to the South District Police.
July 02: An AIIMS doctor, heading the panel to conduct post-mortem Tharoor’s wife claimed that pressure was put on him to manipulate the autopsy report of Sunanda.
September 30: The viscera report was submitted by AIIMS doctors to Delhi Police. The new report by the panel of doctors, who had conducted the autopsy on her, was prepared on the basis of the findings of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) which had examined Sunanda’s viscera.
October 19: It was reported that poison had been found in the final viscera report of Pushkar.
November 9: The hotel room in which Sunanda was found dead was again examined by police and forensic experts. Fluid marks found on the bed and broken glass was sent to CFSL for examination.
January 06, 2015: Delhi Police Commissioner Bassi says that Sunanda did not commit suicide but was murdered. He also said that a murder case had been registered and a probe will be conducted. Tharoor says that he is stunned at the developments, adding that he will cooperate with the police.

A day after Delhi police decided to file FIR in suspicious death of Sunanda Pushkar, a letter written by Shashi Tharoor to Police Chief B S Bassi has now come into public domain. The letter, written in November 2014, accuses Delhi Police of trying to put pressure on Shashi Tharoor’s staff to frame him for murder charges inSunanda Pushkar’s death. Tharoor wrote in his letter, they should stop harassing his staffs. He alleged that his close aid Narayan was physically assaulted by the police. Tharoor accused in the letter that police is trying to force Narayan to confess that he and the Congress MP murdered Sunanda Pushkar.

Delhi Police chief BS Bassi said they have formed an SIT to probe the Sunanda Pushkar case. “In order to do a proper investigation in this case, we have made a special team. This special investigation team will be closely monitored by Additional DCP(South). “I assure that I will share with you all the necessary information required. There is no need to worry about that. The moment any relevant thing will come before us, you will be informed about that,” he added.

Bassi also said that the police is as of now is proceeding according to the action plan, and added that every aspect is being examined carefully.On Tuesday, Delhi Police had registered a murder case on the basis of a medical report that concluded her death was unnatural and due to poisoning but nobody has been named as a suspect as yet.Delhi Police Chief does not rule out questioning her husband, now a Congress MP and a former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, saying “whatever necessary will be done.” Nearly a year after 51-year-old Sunanda was found dead in a luxury hotel here on January 17, Delhi Police filed the case of murder under section 302 of the IPC but no one has been named in the FIR.The medical board of AIIMS submitted a fresh report to the police on December 29 and stated that it was the injection, suspected of polonium, that may have led to Sunanda’s death. The report clearly stated it was an unnatural death.

In its report AIIMS medical board had said, “The cause of death in this case is poisoning. Viscera are positive for ethyl alcohol, caffeine, acetaminophen and cotinine.” From the medical document made available to them the panel has also concluded that Sunanda did not have cardiac problem. She was not suffering from any diseases like hypertension, diabetes or tuberculosis.
The panel has concluded that Sunanda was neither ill nor had any disease prior to her death. She was a normal healthy individual. The medical board had examined all the injuries on her body out of which ‘injury number 10’ has been termed as a mark caused by the needle of a syringe. The team has also dismissed the theory that Sunanda died of an overdose of Alprazolam as the viscera report is negative for the presence of the substance.

Indo-Pak bus service restricted to Wagah
Terror threats to target the Delhi-Lahore bus, popularly known as ‘Sada-e-Sarhad’, have taken their toll with the Pakistan Government deciding to restrict its movement to Wagah on the Pakistan side.
The bus, which commenced its service in 1999 with an aim to improve bilateral relations and people-to-people contact between two estranged nations, will not go beyond Wagah, in view of continued terror threats by Pakistan-based militant groups.

Passengers travelling from Lahore and Nankana Sahib will now have to board the bus at Wagah. Similarly, passengers from Delhi would disembark at Wagah, for their onward journey on different vehicles.
This is for the first time that the movement of bus has been restricted at Wagah. Earlier, it had been suspended after the Parliament attack in 2001. It resumed service in 2003 after the bilateral relations improved.
Intelligence agencies had asked the Pakistan Government about the threats by the Taliban groups to target the bus service. Then, the agencies here asked the states through which the bus passes to enhance security of the bus service.