Delhi Police perplexed over probe in Pushkar death case

Delhi Police finds itself in a quandary over probe in the high-profile Sunanda Pushkar case which seems to be shuttling between different departments within the force.
While no one is willing to cite the reasons behind this, sources in the Crime Branch claim no one wants to touch the case given its "sensitive nature".
The case, which was initially supposed to be handled by South District police as the incident took place in Sarojini Nagar area was handed over to the Crime Branch on Thursday citing its "sensitive nature" and "complexities" involved.
However, the police made a u-turn last night when the case was transferred back to the South District police.

This decision was justified by saying that the step was taken to ensure "continuity" in the case. However, senior officials could not answer as to why the case was transferred in the first place if they wanted to maintain "continuity" in the probe.
Sources claim that Crime Branch officials cited shortage of staff and pending cases to excuse themselves from the job.

On January 21, a sub-divisional magistrate had directed Delhi Police to investigate the murder or suicide angle in the case.
Wife of Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, 52-year-old Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in a starred hotel in south Delhi on the night of January 17, a day after a Twitter spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar over an alleged affair with her husband.

As Sunanda died within seven years of her marriage with Tharoor, inquest proceedings were launched in the case under which an SDM investigates the case.
In a report to the police, SDM Alok Sharma, who had recorded the statements of Sunanda's brother, son, Tharoor and his staff, had said that no family member suspected any foul play in the death.
The SDM in his report had concluded that Sunanda died of poisoning and had directed the police to probe the murder or suicide angle in the case.
The autopsy report had mentioned more than a dozen injury marks on Sunanda's body besides a "deep teeth bite" on the edge of her left palm.