New Delhi: The medical board constituted by AIIMS in Delhi has ruled out poisoning as a possible cause of death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput (34). According to sources, the board has shared its ‘conclusive opinion’ with the CBI, clearly stating the possible cause and manner of death.

Dr Sudhir Gupta, chairperson of the board, told TOI that their opinion cannot be shared with anyone, including the media, since the case is sub-judice. “We have expressed our medico-legal opinion in the matter very clearly and conclusively to CBI,” he said.

Rajput was found dead in his Bandra pad on June 14. A police probe and a post-mortem at Cooper Hospital suggested it was a case of suicide.

However, the actor’s family claimed it could be a case of murder and got an FIR registered in the matter in Bihar, where the actor’s father lives, after which the state referred the matter to CBI for further investigation.

When the CBI requested AIIMS for a second opinion on the post-mortem, a medical board of forensic experts, headed by Dr Gupta, was constituted. Members of the board visited Mumbai to inspect the late actor’s flat where he was found hanging.

They also interviewed doctors from Cooper Hospital who had carried out the post-mortem.

Sources in the medical board said it took more than a month to reach a conclusion on the cause and manner of death because videography of the postmortem wasn’t available. “The hospital didn’t even have pictures of dissection of the body during autopsy,” said a source.

He, however, added that the conclusion reached by the board is based on due diligence and analysis of all available evidence. “It is our final opinion. The job assigned to us in this case is over and should be treated as closed,” said one of the members.

During their visit to the late actor’s flat in Mumbai, the AIIMS team recreated the scene of alleged suicide. The tensile strength of the ligature material - which was a kurta - was also assessed, sources said. They paid a surprise visit to Cooper Hospital at night.

Later, the forensic unit that conducted the post-mortem was called to the CBI guesthouse where the doctors were asked how they had ruled out the possibility of ligature strangulation.

Meanwhile, ANI reported on Tuesday that the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory in Mumbai has said its report in July on Rajput’s death had ruled out any kind of poison or organic poisoning. “Our report had ruled out any kind of poison or organic poisoning,” the Kalina FSL said. The lab had submitted the report to Mumbai police.

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A panel of forensic experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi, whose help on medico-legal aspects had been sought by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its probe related to the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case, allegedly found no presence of organic poison or toxic chemicals in the late actor’s viscera sample, sources said. The experts, however, pointed at certain alleged incongruities associated with the autopsy process of the actor, which was conducted at a suburban government-owned post-mortem centre, including the fact that the autopsy report did not cite any probable time of the death and the last meal consumed by the deceased based upon the contents of the stomach, the sources said.

The experts’ toxicology report mentioned that no organic poison or toxic chemical was found in the viscera sample while a few aspects of the autopsy done in June need closer examination, the sources said. The late actor’s body was found hanging in his bedroom at his Bandra flat by four of his flat-mates, including a friend and three staffers, on the afternoon of June 14. The AIIMS experts also mentioned that the autopsy process was allegedly conducted in a room that was not adequately lit, the sources added.

An official associated with the post-mortem declined to comment on the allegations, saying the matter is sub-judice and all information and documents connected to the case have already been shared with the CBI. The autopsy was conducted by five doctors on the night of June 14, the sources said. Asked about the findings of the AIIMS’s opinion, the CBI’s spokesperson declined t comment saying he has no confirmation about it. Mirror had earlier reported that the CBI took the autopsy report under its scanner for not mentioning the death’s and last meal’s probable time.

The agency, which began its probe on August 20 by sending a team of investigators and forensic experts from Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) to Mumbai, had surveyed the Bandra flat, where Rajput’s body was found hanging, multiple times, and questioned over two dozen persons connected to the late actor to reconstruct circumstances connected to the incident and to examine if there was any foul play in the death. The findings of the forensic experts, who are part of a medical board, are in the nature of “final opinion” to assist the CBI’s probe, the sources said.

A forensic source said, “AIIMS and CBI are in agreement on the Sushant Singh Rajput death case but more deliberations are needed. There is a need to look into some legal aspects for a logical legal conclusion.” After the actor’s autopsy in a city post-mortem centre, viscera sample had been preserved for subsequent chemical analysis.

An initial chemical analysis of the viscera conducted at the behest of the Mumbai police, which did an Accidental Death Report inquiry, at a Mumbai city forensic science laboratory had also ruled out the presence of any poisonous or toxic chemical, ruling out any foul play in death. After the autopsy, viscera sample including parts of small intestine and stomach, part of spleen, scalp hair, one-third liver with gall bladder, among other parts had been preserved for chemical analysis, the source said.

The autopsy report had opined that the “probable cause of death” was “asphyxia due to hanging”. The doctors had preserved viscera for chemical analysis to rule out any foul-play in the death. The autopsy report had found no signs of decomposition and no evidence of fracture / dislocation / abnormality, agency sources said. The CBI team had taken clarifications on several aspects related to the post-mortem from the post-mortem centre authorities, including type of predeath injuries, if any. The autopsy report had not cited the time of the death and the last meal, based on the “state of the contents of the stomach”.

The CBI on Monday said that the agency is conducting a professional investigation in the case, in which “all aspects are being looked at and no aspect has been ruled out as of date”. The CBI had sought AIIMS’s help to examine whether there was any foul play in the death. Sources said the AIIMS forensic opinion that is conclusive would help decide the next course of the CBI’s investigation.