Sunanda was taking 'fistful of medicines', claims a friend

New Delhi, Jan 21: In a new twist to the Sunanda Pushkar mysterious death case, one of her close friends on Wednesday claimed that she was taking "fistful of medicines" and had fainted twice weeks before her death when he had hosted her and Shashi Tharoor at his Goa home.

Tej Saraf (77), who had hosted the couple in December 2013, told NDTV that Sunanda wasn't eating well, she wasn't sleeping well and was in a "distraught" condition.

"Sunanda was taking fistful of medicines and I asked her 'what are these for', and she said 'I don't sleep very well and I haven't slept for years and so I have Alprax and various painkillers'.

In fact we did tell her that this was dangerous," said Saraf.

Asked as to why he broke his silence a year after Sunanda was found dead at a five star hotel in Delhi, he said, "I was appalled over the last few weeks by statements being made by various people particularly that Lupus( a skin disorder) was a red herring. I decided to break my silence and tell you what happened during her stay with us over the New Year."

Saraf also said that he was ready to give his statement to police. Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi, when asked about the claims being made by Saraf, said that the police would like "to talk to this gentleman".

PTI