Sunanda case: Advanced tests to determine cause of injuries

The Crime Branch probing the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar will go for advanced forensic tests to determine cause of injuries on her body as it tries to unravel whether it was a case of suicide, homicide or accident.

Investigators said 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 and they were trying to ascertain whether the injuries were "inflicted" on her.

They said doctors who conducted autopsy on her body had preserved Sunanda's skin samples where the injuries were found and the advanced forensic tests like histopathology will be carried out to determine how old the injuries were and its causes.

Union Minister Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda, 52, was found dead in a 5-star hotel in South Delhi on Friday night, a day after her twitter spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar over an alleged affair with Tharoor.

The probe into the high-profile case was transfered to the Crime Branch yesterday considering its "sensitive nature" and "complexities" involved.

The autopsy report had mentioned use of blunt force for the injury marks on both her hands and left cheek.

Forensic experts are of the view that whether the injuries were self inflicted or otherwise can only be ascertained by detailed histopathology tests.

On Tuesday, a sub-divisional magistrate had directed Delhi Police to investigate the murder or suicide angles in the case that the nature of those injuries and how old they were, would help them in the case.

Top officials of south district police, who were handling the case till yesterday, today briefed the Crime Branch investigators about the case in an hour long meeting.

The investigators said they were also waiting for the toxicology report from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) to know what sort of poison had caused her death as the SDM report had concluded that she died of "poisoning".