Dr Sudhir Gupta, who headed the panel set up to re-examine the actor's post-mortem and viscera reports, confirmed the death was by suicide.
Our Correspondent
Dr Sudhir Gupta of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, has ruled out murder in the case of the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Dr Gupta, who headed the AIIMS panel set up to re-examine Rajput's post-mortem and viscera reports, confirmed that the actor had died by suicide.
"Sushant's death is a case of suicide. Murder ruled out," he stated, according to a report on the India Today magazine's website.
The ruling matches the initial report issued by Mumbai’s Cooper hospital where the autopsy was conducted.
The panel submitted its conclusion on 29 September to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the circumstances surrounding the actor's death.
According to the news report, the CBI will continue its investigation into the case and see if there was any abetment of suicide.
The agency took over the investigation 57 days ago. Its forensic experts have also gone through a laptop, two hard disks, a Canon camera, and two mobile phones to look for evidence.
Last week, Vikas Singh, the lawyer who represents Rajput’s family, had expressed their ire with the state of the investigation. "Getting frustrated by the delay in CBI taking a decision to convert abetment to suicide to murder of SSR [Sushant Singh Rajput]," he had said. "The doctor who is part of AIIMS team had told me long back that the photos sent by me indicated 200% that it’s death by strangulation and not suicide.”
Dr Gupta had later replied to Vikas Singh, “We can’t conclude murder or suicide based on just ligature marks and scene of crime. Need more investigation which is still going on."
Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai flat on 14 June, and the police ruled it a case of suicide. Last month, the actor’s girlfriend, actress Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau for allegedly procuring drugs for Rajput. The Enforcement Directorate is also looking into money-laundering charges against Rhea.
