Forensic expert dismisses heart attack as cause of Judge Loya’s death, reports The Caravan

There has been a new revelation in the case of the death of special CBI Judge BH Loya. After examination of the documents related to Loya’s death, it show signs of possible trauma to the brain, and even possible poisoning, claims a report by Caravan. In the report, leading forensic expert Dr RK Sharma, after examining medical documents pertaining to the death of the judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya, has dismissed the official claim that Loya died of a heart attack.

The documents studied include Loya’s post-mortem and histopathology reports, a report that accompanied samples of Loya’s viscera that were sent for chemical analysis, and the results of the chemical analysis. Some of these documents have been procured through Right to Information applications, and others have been submitted to the Supreme Court by the Government of Maharashtra in support of a report by Maharashtra’s State Intelligence Department that concludes there is no cause for suspicion regarding Loya’s death. Sharma’s expert opinion contradicts this conclusion. Dr RK Sharma, also an advisor of CBI, has written five books on forensic and medico-legal issues, and has lectured and trained judges and public prosecutors on multiple occasions.

The main observations of Dr Sharma as per The Caravan report, and other facts in the media outlet’s report include:

• There is no evidence of myocardial infarction in the histopathology report. The findings in this report have no suggestion of a heart-attack. They show changes, but not a heart attack
• The post-mortem report also says that calcification is observed in the vessels. Where there is calcification, there is no heart attack. Once the vessels have calcified they will never block the flow of blood.
• Dura is congested according to the post-mortem report. Dura matter is the outermost layer that surrounds our brain. It is damaged in cases of trauma, which indicates some kind of an assault on the brain. A physical assault.
• Loya’s sister Dr Anuradha Biyani had pointed out that when she saw her brother’s body, “there were bloodstains on the neck at the back of the shirt.”
• Sarita Mandhane, another of Loya’s sisters, had also mentioned “blood on the neck” when she spoke to The Caravan, and that “these was blood and an injury on his head … on the back side.”
• Harkishan Loya, the judge’s father, had told The Caravan that he remembered “bloodstains on the clothes.”
• Sharma said he found it strange that “the reason why dura is congested is not written.
• “There is a possibility of poisoning. Every single organ is congested.”
• The findings of the chemical analysis on Loya’s viscera samples, submitted 50 days after the judge’s death did not identify any poison. The analysis was done at the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Nagpur. It is recorded as analysis started on January 5, 2015, 36 days after Loya’s death, and was completed 14 days later. Sharma wondered why the analysis took so much time, which could have been completed in one or two days
• There is no consensus on the condition of Loya’s body and the probable cause of Loya’s death as recorded in the post-mortem report and the report that accompanied Loya’s viscera samples when these were sent for analysis.
• In a field titled “opinion as to the probable cause of death” the post-mortem report states, “Coronary artery insufficiency.” In the same field, the viscera report stated, “A case of sudden death.”

After studying the documents, Sharma told The Caravan, “The situation presented in these documents necessitates an investigation.”