Sunanda Pushkar's Viscera Samples Brought Back From US

New Delhi: Thirty two months and several twists later, the Sunanda Pushkar death mystery is nowhere near conclusion.

Another formality in the probe is complete, with remnants of her viscera samples brought back from the US by the Delhi Police.

The samples were sent to the FBI lab in Washington in February 2015 to determine the kind of poison that killed Sunanda after an AIIMS medical board identified poisoning as the reason behind her death but did not mention any specific substance.

Two top officers privy to the investigations told CNN-News18 that apart from the viscera samples, the FBI was also given Sunanda's clothes, her food samples, a white bed sheet & bed covers she used during her stay in suite number 345 of Delhi's Leela Palace hotel where she was found dead on January 17, 2014.

While most media outlets are reporting that "viscera samples" have been brought back, a top Delhi Police officer explained that these are "remnants" and not the samples as they were submitted.

"The procedure followed worldwide is that the laboratories return only the remains of the samples given," added the source.

Infact, the FBI had complained about the degraded quality of the viscera sample given to them due to which the FBI was not able to give Delhi Police a "substantive report".

An explanation of the degradation lies in the several layers of tests the samples have gone through in the Indian labs over more than two years.

In November 2015, the FBI had sent a report to Delhi Police but the Police failed to draw any clear conclusion from that.

CNN-News18 had then reported formation of a new medical board in March 2016 to read that report and give a final medical opinion.

Officers investigating the case say that the board hasn't given its report yet. Some clarifications were sought by the board to which the SIT has responded.

51-year-old Sunanda was found dead at a suite in Delhi’s Leela Hotel on the night of January 17, 2014, a day after her spat with Mehr Tarar on Twitter accusing the Pakistani journalist of having an affair with her husband Shashi Tharoor.