Sunanda - The Unperfect Murder

Across the world, when a woman dies under suspicious circumstances, the first ones to be interviewed are her those closest to her. Usually, it’s the husband, boyfriend, wife, girlfriend or if one or both of them had affairs, then their secret lovers also become “persons of interest”. Do note, they are always described as “person of interest” and not as “suspect” unless they find some suspicion of foul play or incongruent behaviour that turns the person into a suspect. Sunanda Pushkar died on January 17, 2014. The autopsy confirms the date but I have not seen any report that confirms the exact time of death. This is a serious flaw in the autopsy. Estimating the exact time of death creates a lot of pointers to the chain of events that lead to the death. Shashi Tharoor (ST) should have been treated as the prime suspect but he swaggered his way off.

However, the autopsy of Sunanda conducted AIIMS records a few things. It was a sudden, unnatural death. There were 12 injury marks on her body. Use of blunt force to her body and deep bite marks near her hand. Nominal traces of the drug Alprazolam (a deep sleep inducer) and Excedrin (a migraine-reliever) were found. No drug over-dose was found. The then Delhi PC BS Bassi stated it was murder. The AIIMS autopsy panel-head Dr. Sudhir Gupta repeatedly claimed he was being pressurised to manipulate the report. By hook or crook, Sunanda’s death was finally “assumed” a suicide and buried. I don’t think anyone believed it was suicide and no medical report stated that. From day 1, it was suspected to be a murder by almost every Indian who took any interest in the case:

 

The autopsy had not declared Sunanda’s death to be suicide. The case went cold for a couple of years till Subramaniam Swamy filed a PIL in the SC which directed the Delhi Police to conduct a proper inquiry and prosecute the case. In May 2017, seeking sensationalism on launch, Arnab Goswami of Republic TV released a series of facts and evidences relating to the case which further annoyed ST. In court hearings, ST protested Swamy being involved in the case but didn’t get far. Let us briefly take a look at the chain of events leading to Sunanda’s murder and the aftermath. These are according to medical and police reports as reflected in the media and also recent witness testimonies on August 31, 2019.

# On January 16, 2014, a day before her death, Sunanda and Tharoor had a physical fight. This left her bruised. And the autopsy records she had “blunt force” trauma and “bite marks” on her arm:

# On January 16, Tharoor was constantly chatting with Mehr Tarar with whom he is suspected of having an affair. Tharoor is also reported to have previously spent a few days with Tarar in Dubai, either together or in the same hotel.

# After the fight on January 16, Tharoor came to Sunanda’s room, either past midnight or early hours of January 17 according to the witness who was in the room with Sunanda. Here’s an India Today report on it:

 

# So, at 2.30 am on January 17, Sunanda ordered some meal and had kept chatting with her friend till 5am. Whether she popped some pills before sleeping, we don’t know but as the autopsy say there was “no overdose” of any drugs. The friend who was with Sunanda left at 5 am on January 17. Therefore, we definitely know that Sunanda was alive at 5am that morning.

# In the morning of Jan.17, Tharoor left for an AICC meeting. It is not publicly known what time he left. And he didn’t return till after 8pm to the hotel. He returned and found Sunanda motionless and probably dead. He called the police.

# According to various reports, Sunanda had, on Jan.17 morning, called various reporters to make some explosive revelations about something – maybe IPL scam or Mehr Tarar. We don’t know. Among the journos she called were Barkha Dutt, Sagarika Ghose and also veteran Nalini Singh. Here is what Nalini Singh has consistently maintained in print and on TV shows:

# Tharoor addresses Tarar as “my darlingest”. I am sure that’s the common language Congis use to address their paramours. This, despite Sunanda being constantly suspicious of an affair.

# On August 31, 2019 during the trial hearing, witnesses confirmed Tharoor and Sunanda had fought on January 16. That part of the fight was also about a young woman named “Katy”. This Katy turns out to be a biographer of Tharoor and by that reason would have frequent interactions with him.

# Those peddling the suicide theory – no report has confirmed suicide. Besides, even an excessive dose of sleeping pills or regular Arsenic poisoning are not known to have caused deaths. Timely medical help has saved many such victims:

# The man in the above case who regularly took an excessive dose of sleeping pills did not die. In addition, drugs like Alprazolam or Ambien are no more routinely available over the counter.

# In all of this, I would place the highest suspicion on the deceptive behaviour of ST before and after the murder of Sunanda. The Delhi Police did not bother to have a top psychological or behavioural analyst to profile ST’s behaviour. Let us attempt that, step by step.

Shashi Tharoor’s Deceptive Behaviour

# Late night Jan 16 or early morning on Jan 17, Tharoor came into Sunanda’s room and was apologetic as stated by the friend who was with Sunanda. I have mentioned this in the 2^nd pic of this post. The friend also confirms she left at 5am and, therefore, Sunanda wasn’t dead then.

# What happened on the morning of Jan.17? ST leaves for the AICC meet. Did he go into Sunanda’s room to check on her as she was physically assaulted? Did he go in to say bye before he left for the AICC meeting? There isn’t any record stating he met her in the morning.

# Throughout the day, ST was out at the AICC meeting and probably with some other business. Did he ever call his wife at the hotel or her mobile to check if she was okay? There is no public record of any such call. Wouldn’t a reasonable man care for his wife (even if he had an affair with another) enough to at least call and check on her? Nothing!

# It seems Sunanda had called up a few journos to give them an explosive story but the meetings never materialised. Sunanda was last reported seen at 3.30pm in the hotel lounge or lobby which no one has corroborated. Conveniently, the CCTV tapes from the floor of Sunanda’s room also disappear.

# Did one of those journos (some quite friendly with ST) tip him off about the meeting Sunanda had called? I believe that is quite possible.

# So, after 3.30pm no one had seen Sunanda and when ST returns at around 8.30pm he finds Sunanda dead and calls the police.

# After her death, ST is cool as cucumber and not frantic or distraught as you would expect a normal husband to be.

# In a couple of days, ST was sending emails to the autopsy-doctors at AIIMS on ailments and other medical problems Sunanda was going through. There is no record any doctor had called for such information. Such information is neither used nor admissible in doing an autopsy to determine cause of death when it is primarily “unnatural”.

# Not once in the many months after her cremation does ST ever call for a serious investigation on how and why Sunanda died. These are Congis who nowadays call for a CBI probe even if a cockroach dies. How is it that his wife’s “unnatural” death never bothered him one bit? On the contrary, when Swamy filed a PIL to reopen the investigations, ST vehemently opposed it because Swamy was involved. What difference does it make? ST also tried to get a stay against Republic airing any reports on the Sunanda-death but the court declined his request.

# In the entire period after the Sunanda case was buried, ST was thumping his chest frequently, making brazen noises as if to prove he has no guilt and in the final stage he tweets nonsense about Shaw’s quote on wrestling with pigs:

# It seems all that ST was interested in was to see the case buried and not reach a closure on how Sunanda died and who killed her.

# After the hearing on August 31, 2019 the Delhi Police and Prosecution have sought to charge ST with “murder” and I fully agree. ST may not have pulled the trigger but his conduct and entire chain of events make him a suspect of being a “conspirator” to the murder of Sunanda.

# Once ST is charged and arrested, he will be compelled to spill the beans on what exactly happened. Till then, there is no doubt in my mind that he should be prosecuted for murder.

There is another angle that the courts and police and even Swamy are not insisting on. There were “deep bite marks” on the arm of Sunanda. Bite marks are great forensic evidence in crimes even if they may not be as perfect as a “smoking gun”, they add to other evidences. Many across the world have been convicted by evidence of bite marks. The most infamous serial rapist and killer in the US, Ted Bundy, had confessed (after conviction) to killing more than 40 women but some say it may be more than 100. But before his trial, there was not one shred of evidence against him. The ONLY evidence that nailed him was a “bite mark” that he left on one of his last victims. He was convicted only for only 3 murders and not for others. But given that he was given the death sentence and later executed, that conviction was enough to get rid of him.

The witnesses, the circumstantial evidences and the behaviour of ST all point to him being complicit in Sunanda’s death one way or another. And even if that is not the case, there is all evidence that he had severely battered her physically and that is also a separate case he should be charged for. Sunanda was undoubtedly murdered. But it was an “unperfect” murder and ST may have a lot of grinding to do.

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Unchained Corrupt

How many know that they were once known as the ABC of Tennis? – Vijay Amritraj, Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors. At times Amritraj was far better than the other two. In 1973 Amritraj beat the legendary Rod Laver in the US Open to lose later to the final winner Ken Rosewall. At Wimbledon, he was two sets up against defending champion Borg in 1979 and up 4-1 in the fourth set before losing the match. He was two sets up against Connors at Wimbledon 1981  but lost the last 3 sets to lose in five. He had also beaten Borg in 1974 at the US Open. One has to wonder how a talented and skilled player like Amritraj could lose after being two sets up so often. They used to attribute his losses to lack of “Killer instinct”. In a match, when the opponent is down, you don’t give him a toe hold at the door. Vijay Amritraj will rue those missed chances forever.

That’s true for BJP too. A severe lack of “killer instinct” to destroy the enemies of India and the corrupt. In 1977 the “Khichdi” govt of Janata Party couldn’t prosecute IndiraG for her Emergency-crimes because there were power-hungry individuals and IndiraG could easily bring down the govt. She returned to power because of the stupid infighting among these individuals. Then during the ABV govt, SoniaG brought it down once. ABV returned to power with greater strength as also the Kargil victory. Yet, the corrupt Congis and their heads weren’t put away. There is hardly any doubt that the ABV govt let the Bofors crooks get away. ABV too harped heavily on development and “Sabka Saath”. What happened? BJP-NDA got thrown out in 2004.

Development alone does not sell with the Indian public – Social issues are equally important for the electorate. ModiSarkar does not seem to learn this. Harping only on development, Modi has ignored social issues and conspiracies and reacted very late. From Christians under attack to the GauRakshak issue, ModiSarkar has allowed fake campaigns and conspiracies to spiral out of control. Modi started with a “CongressMuktBharat” campaign coupled with promise of strong action against the corrupt. Now Venkiah Naidu says “we don’t want CongressMuktBharat”. Take that! That’s the killer instinct of BJP. Still, that is not a problem. On every social issue the BJP has done nothing but fire-fighting, especially at events by the PM, rather than proactively destroying conspiracies and pulling up the conspirators, particularly in the media.

There is a certain element of cowardice in the manner in which BJP ministers and spokies approach issues in public discourse. They suffer a severe inferiority complex and lack confidence. This, even when they can easily dismatle the lies as people on SM do. And the other arms of the party also start firefighting as this tweet suggests:

BJP ministers and members should know that except for a handful of allies they have (one of them a constant tantrum-thrower) every other party, large parts of media, anti-national NGOs and activists are ranged against them. Most of the anti-BJP block is also funded and directed by foreign agencies. Given that, ModiSarkar has constantly pulled back in fear of acting against the corrupt. The very cornerstone of Modi’s campaign – Punishing the corrupt and being a “Chowkidar” of the national treasury. He promised to do it in one year:

Yes! That’s the promise he made. But we all know politicians indulge in hyperbole and excessive chest-thumping. For instance, Modi saying he will pack all illegal Bangladeshis in NE and send them back home. BJP let Vijay Mallya escape from right under their noses. They are unwilling to prosecute a corrupt channel like NDTV whose boss, Prannoy Roy, doesn’t even respond to IT notices. And on the terror-front, it took Bangladesh to tell ModiSarkar that “Little ZakirNaik” is a terror-preacher. He too has escaped and gone abroad. ModiSarkar is still sleeping over many such criminals floating around. Like with many other cases, it is Subramaniam Swamy who is battling the corrupt all alone.

That NDTV has laundered money or involved in financial scams is long in the public domain. Blessed by the former FM P. Chidambaram, ModiSarkar seems to be protecting rather than prosecuting the corrupt. Even in the case of Karti PC ModiSarkar seems to be shielding him. The lame actions (or inaction) out of fear is narrated by MD Nalapat writing in the SundayGuardian:

“By the start of 2013, most voters accepted as fact the BJP’s incessant cry of the UPA government being a collection of the corrupt. However, since coming into office on 26 May 2014, there has not even been an FIR filed against any senior member of the Manmohan Singh Cabinet, much less a prosecution. Even action against those ministers which had been initiated under the UPA appears to have slowed. This is being touted by the Congress as “proof” that the many BJP allegations made in the past of their misconduct were mere political hyperbole. Sonia Gandhi has indeed been having to face a spot of bother over National Herald, but that has been due to an individual acting in his private capacity and not the government. Had the newly installed Modi government launched prosecutions in 2014 itself of top all-India leaders of the Congress, the worst that could have happened was precisely what took place: Congress non-cooperation in Parliament”.

And Modi keeps on harping about “Consensus” and such lame tactics. This is the first party to receive a clear majority and mandate from the people since 1984. Yet, it doesn’t seem to give any courage or confidence to ModiSarkar to act firmly. Among other things, this is what he is mouthing incessantly:

People did not give you 282+ to do everything on consensus. Maybe on national security or foreign policy issues some consensus might make sense. But seeking consensus in everything simply means making laws and policies that suit your opponents more than what suits and is right for India. Don’t take the title of “Mahatma Modi”, as some of your Bhakts call you, all that seriously. Nobody wants you to play Mahatma. Consensus can exist among thieves also.

A gang of 4 thieves share the loot equally regardlesss

of who  brings how much loot. That’s consensus and

sharing equally is a good Value system.

But it DOES NOT make stealing and looting a sound principle.

ModiSarkar needs to operate on sound principles and not bogus consensus. Before LS2014 some folks from BJP too wanted a weaker mandate. They were called the 160Club. They were hoping that such a lower number of seats would lead to a coalition which would keep Modi out of PMship. People wanted nothing of that sort and gave a clear mandate and their choice of PM was also clear. ModiSarkar, especially some of his incompetent ministers are unwilling to imagine this situation:

Imagine Congress had got 282. What would they have done?

They would have run amok and made all kinds of laws and policies

and cared two hoots for consensus.

A few days back, Congi foot-soldier Sachin Pilot was blabbering on NDTV that this is not a liberal govt and its only agenda is Hindutva. A dumb Sambit Patra listened to this nonsense without any counter to it. Media morons keep blabbering all kinds of nonsense as do the Congis. Has ModiSarkar made any law or policy yet that reflects Hindutva? Has ModiSarkar reversed or modified any law or policy that is discriminatory towards Hindus? (Like the RTE or Temple laws?) NO! ModiSarkar has done no such thing. Whether its UCC, Article 370 or any such issue, ModiSarkar has not moved one single inch and nobody is finding faults on that front. But to go easy on the corrupt is a national issue on which no consensus can be had. For instance, what stops ModiSarkar from a Central law banning cow slaughter? This, when even Congis have no alternative but to support it:

Increasingly, ModiSarkar looks more and more like the previous regime on social issues and where Hindutva is concerned. There is not much to distinguish it except the fact that this is govt without any corruption or scams so far. But keeping the corrupt unchained does leave a serious question on the willingness and courage of ModiSarkar to act decisively. It appears more like protecting and shielding the corrupt, rather than prosecuting them.