New Delhi, Jul 2 (FP) : The Forensic Head of AIIMS Dr Sudhir Gupta on Wednesday alleged that he was 'under pressure' to submit a manipulated report on Sunanda Pushkar's autopsy.
According to a report in the Times of India, Dr Sudhir Gupta, wrote to the Ministry of Health and the Chief Vigilance Commission alleging he was being pressured to submit a report saying Pushkar died a "natural death". Gupta who was heading the team of forensic experts that conducted the postmortem, claimed he was pressured "by top officials", says the report.
"Dr Gupta has claimed that he is now being targeted because he did not bow to the pressure and gave a report stating that Sunanda's death was caused by drug poisoning that could be both suicidal or homicidal," TOI reported.
According to a report by Zee News, Dr Gupta claimed he was prevented from telling the truth in his report due to Shashi Tharoor and Ghulam Nabi Azad's influence. "In order to prove that autopsy report was influenced, Dr Gupta has also submitted details of emails exchanged between AIIMS director and Tharoor. Interestingly, Dr Gupta's disclosure comes at a time when has been slapped with charges of plagiarism and misconduct," the report says.
Times Now quoted Gupta's affidavit where he purportedly claimed that he is being targeted because he has taken an "honest and ethical stand" in the matter.
Former Union minister Shashi Tharoor's wife Pushkar was found dead in a hotel room on 17 January this year. Tharoor discovered her body after he returned from All India Congress committee meeting at 8 pm.
In the days leading up to her death, Pushkar was engaged in a verbal spat on Twitter with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar who she suspected was having an affair with Tharoor. However, both Tharoor and Tarar denied these allegations.