The AIIMS' medical board ruled out murder in the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, terming it "a case of hanging and death by suicide", the premier institute's forensic chief Dr Sudhir Gupta said on Saturday.
In its conclusive medico-legal opinion to the CBI, the six-member team of forensic doctors has dismissed the claims of "poisoning and strangling" made in the case of Singh's death.
"It is a case of hanging and death by suicide. We have submitted our conclusive report to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)," Dr Gupta, who is also the chairman of the forensic medical board, said.
There was no injury on the body other than that of hanging. Also, there was no mark of struggle and scuffle, he said but refused to divulge any further details stating the case is sub judice.
Dr Sudhir Gupta’s high-profile cases
Gupta has helmed several high-profile cases in the past. These include Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Sunanda Pushkar’s autopsy, Aarushi murder case, and report on Inspector MC Sharma’s death during the Batla House encounter, to name a few.
In 2014, a senior police officer and a former AIIMS professor were quoted by Hindustan Times who accused Gupta of giving an opinion contrary to what the police investigation has established. They asserted that his statements are parallel to that of the media.
Besides that, several AIIMS officials levelled charges against Gupta to the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which publicises medical opinions.
The report further mentioned that Gupta was summoned in the same year for leaking post-mortem reports.
In 2015, Gupta said that he was asked by AIIMS director Dr MC Mishra to report Pushkar’s cause of death as ‘natural’.
In a letter to Union Health Minister JP Nadda, who was the then AIIMS president, he claimed there were certain emails between Mishra and Tharoor.
"I was asked by Dr Mishra to give a post mortem report of late Sunanda Pushkar as natural death which was contrary to the findings," he said.
AIIMS rejected the allegations calling it "baseless."
Leaked Audio Tape
According to a report by Times Now, a leaked audio tape has emerged, in which Gupta claimed that Sushant “didn’t die by suicide but he was murdered.”
The statement was reportedly made after he saw the pictures of the actor’s mortal remains.
Rajput’s family is now demanding a fresh forensic investigation.
On the other hand, RS MP Subramanian Swamy who came up with several theories citing Sushant’s death as “murder”, said that CBI should file murder charges under Section 302.
Rajput, 34, who made his silver screen debut in the critically acclaimed "Kai Po Che" seven years ago, was found dead in his apartment in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on June 14.
The CBI had taken over the probe from Bihar Police into the alleged abetment to suicide case filed by the actor's father K K Singh in Patna against Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her family.
Earlier this week, the central probe agency had said that it has not reached any conclusion in Rajput's death case and that all aspects were under investigation.
