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When a death raises credible questions about toxicology, forensic procedure, chain of custody, conflicting testimony or possible interference, the answer cannot simply be: the case is closed. My plea is simple: reopen the suspicious cases. Independently. Follow the evidence wherever it leads.
Start with Sridevi. Where is the complete forensic reconstruction of the events surrounding her death in Dubai? She was officially found to have drowned after losing consciousness, with alcohol reported in her system, and Dubai authorities concluded there was no foul play.
Fine. Then release and independently scrutinize the underlying evidence. What exactly did she consume? Who gave her the drink and investigate his access to anything suspicious including insurance policies. And what happened to the physical and digital evidence?
There are also questions surrounding Boney Kapoor’s own account of Sridevi and the Sea Rock Hotel before the 1993 Mumbai bombings. How did he know to get her out? Those questions deserve chronology, not insinuation. Likewise, if an Oman-based life-insurance policy existed, its policyholder, beneficiary, underwriting records, premium payments and dates should be independently established.
Then there is the bathtub. Not mythology. Physics. Forensics. Reconstruction.
Could an unconscious person taller than the tub drown under the circumstances documented by the Dubai authorities? These are legitimate forensic questions. Then comes the most important question: toxicology.
There has been speculation online about Serenace, the brand name associated with haloperidol. Haloperidol can produce serious toxicity, including cardiac electrical abnormalities and dangerous arrhythmias in overdose.
So test the proposition. Was haloperidol present? If not, say so. If it was tested and absent, publish the result. If it was never tested, explain why.
Faissal Khan (Aamir Khan’s brother) has separately alleged that his family administered Serenace to him. The same discipline must apply to claims made by Steve Pinto. Pinto has made social-media allegations involving Disha Salian, including references to “37M,” poisoned drinks, trafficking and drugs. Those claims require authentication before they can be treated as evidence.
In 2017, Italian authorities seized approximately 37 million tramadol tablets in Genoa. The shipment originated in India, was reportedly routed through a Dubai-based importer and was destined for Libya. Italian investigators said the shipment was intended for use by or financing of Islamic State-linked networks.
This proves something important: India was part of a documented international pharmaceutical-trafficking route involving enormous quantities of controlled medication. So when somebody alleges a pharmaceutical or trafficking connection, the answer should not be ridicule.
It should be: Show us the records. The same principle applies to Disha Salian, Sushant Singh Rajput and Sunanda Pushkar. What exactly happened? Who was present? Who communicated with whom? What did the CCTV show? What happened to phones and devices? What did the toxicology actually establish? Who handled the evidence? Were forensic samples preserved correctly? Were alternative hypotheses properly tested? And was political or institutional pressure ever exerted?
Sunanda Pushkar’s case deserves the same scrutiny. Dr Sudhir Gupta, who was involved with the AIIMS forensic process, made allegations that he had been pressured over his conclusions. What political party was the pressure from, involving an MP from which party?
Was Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad a senior leader of the Indian National Congress (INC)? Was he also President of AIIMS? Was he exerting pressure on the Forensic Dr. Sudhir Gupta to protect his friend MP Shashi Tharoor?
Did he rinse and repeat it for SSR’s Forensic Study to protect his MVA friends in Maharashtra? Remember, MVA = Maha Vikas Aghadi, the Maharashtra political coalition formed in 2019.
It originally consisted of:
- Shiv Sena under Uddhav Thackeray
- Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) under Sharad Pawar
- Indian National Congress (INC)
Then there is Lal Bahadur Shastri. His death in Tashkent has generated decades of questions about the absence of a conventional post-mortem and the handling of the evidence. Was the suspicious death of witness Dr. R. N. Chugh rinsed and repeated with Steve Pinto? Both were witnesses and met with a truck accident.
Here is my challenge to India: Stop protecting reputations. Stop protecting institutions. Stop protecting narratives. Protect the evidence. Reopen the cases where credible unanswered questions remain. Bring independent forensic pathologists, toxicologists, digital-forensics experts and investigators into the process.
Publish what can legally be published. Follow the money. Follow the drugs. Follow the phones. Follow the contracts. Follow the insurance policies. Follow the forensic trail. Follow the people.
Otherwise India has gone from the British Raj to the Goonda Raj!
Akshay Sharma is a former Gartner analyst and is a board member of Somy Ali’s nonprofit No More Tears, with over 50 published essays in ThePrint.IN. He is the author of multiple books to be published in 2027. His views are personal.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.