Cloth used by Sushant Singh Rajput to hang self to undergo ‘tensile’ test

PTI, Jul 3, 2020, 8:44 PM IST

Mumbai: As part of probe into the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the Mumbai Police have sent the cloth, allegedly used by him to hang himself, to a forensic lab for “tensile strength” analysis to determine whether it can bear the weight similar to that of the film star, an official said on Friday.

The test will help determine if there was any foul play, he said.

Meanwhile, the Bandra police have summoned film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali to record his statement in connection with the case on July 6, the official said.

Bhansali had offered films to Rajput but could not work with him apparently due to date issues.

Rajput (34) was found hanging at his suburban Bandra residence on June 14.

According to the investigators, the actor ended his life by hanging himself from the ceiling using a green coloured night gown made of cotton.

No suicide note was found from the spot, the police had said then.

“Besides the viscera from the actor’s body, the police also sent the gown for chemical and forensic analysis at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in suburban Kalina,” the official said.

It will take at least three more days to get the final forensic report, the official said.

To ascertain the exact cause of death, forensic experts will check pattern of ligature marks around the actors neck and also determine the strength of the gown with the help of “tensile strength” analysis, he said.

The tensile strength test will technically establish whether the cloth can bear around 80 kg, the weight of the actor. The test will help determine if there was any foul play, the official said.

Tensile strength is maximum load that a material can support without fracture when being stretched.

Viscera analysis will help in checking whether there were any traces of chemical, poisonous or narcotics substance in his body, the official said.

“Usually, it takes eight to ten working days to get report from the FSL in regular cases. But since this case is sensitive, experts are taking more precautions to avoid any kind of error in their analysis,” the official said.

The forensic report of the actors mobile phone is also awaited, he said.

Recently, the police received the final post-mortem report of the actor from Cooper Hospital, which mentioned the cause of the death as “asphyxia due to hanging”.

Rajput, who had started his acting career from TV, starred in films such as ‘Shuddh Desi Romance’, ‘Raabta’, ‘Chhichhore’, ‘Kedarnath’ and ‘Sonchiriya’. But his most prominent role came as popular cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the biopic “MS Dhoni: The Untold Story”.

The official said that the Bandra police have summoned the Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and he will join the investigation on Monday, when his statement will be recorded.

The police, who are probing angle of possible professional rivalry in the case, will enquire about reasons behind the actor’s depression, he said.

Bhansali had offered films to Rajput, but due to date issues, things did not work out between them as the actor had signed a contract with a big production house.

The police will try to understand the circumstances in which the rising star of Bollywood killed himself, the official said.

The police have so far recorded statements of 29 people, including Rajput’s family members, his close friends like actor Rhea Chakraborty, casting director Mukesh Chhabra, Yash Raj Films casting director Shanoo Sharma and actor Sanjana Sanghi, who was the actor’s co-star in her debut film ‘Dil Bechara’.