Evidence of drug overdose in Sunanda's body

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : Jan 19 2014 | 10:05 PM IST
There was no trace of alcohol in the body of Sunanda Pushkar though some evidence of presence of anti-depressant drug was likely, AIIMS sources said today.
Doctors at the AIIMS, where a three-member board of doctors performed the postmortem yesterday, had said the death was "sudden and unnatural".
AIIMS sources today said the doctors have not found any trace of alcohol in the body. But presence of Alprazolam, which belongs to a group of psychoactive drugs used as sedatives, cannot be ruled out.
Investigators had recovered an empty strip of Alprax from the hotel room.
Media reports had speculated that a combination of alcohol and anti-depressants could have caused her death.
AIIMS doctors have preserved certain "biological samples for toxicological analysis as well as visco-pathological examination."
"We have completed the whole procedure. Samples for toxicological analysis means ruling out any poison. Some pathology of the heart has been preserved by us," said Dr Sudhir Gupta, head of the panel of doctors which performed the autopsy.
Samples of body fluids and viscera which were taken yesterday were tested in the AIIMS Forensic Laboratory, findings of which will be submitted as the final report tomorrow to the SDM.
Half of the samples have been sent to the CFSL, the reports of which will be sought only if any discrepancy in this report comes out. Then the court will order CFSL to submit their report directly to them.
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First Published: Jan 19 2014 | 10:05 PM IST

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