French woman died of drug overdose?

The 38-year-old businessman arrested in connection with death of Frenchwoman Laurine at a Paharganj guesthouse has revealed she died due to drug overdose on the intervening night of April 1 and 2, sources said. Karn Pratap Singh reports.

The 38-year-old businessman arrested in connection with death of French woman Laurine at a Paharganj guesthouse has revealed she died due to drug overdose on the intervening night of April 1 and 2, sources said.

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While senior officers maintain that the motive behind the murder and the cause of death remain unknown, sources said the Frenchwoman had taken heavy doses of brown sugar with glasses of beer. They are, however, waiting for the post-mortem and viscera reports before drawing conclusions.

Businessman Manzoor Ahmed had stayed put in his room for the next three days with her body. He had secretly left for Srinagar on April 4 when her body began stinking, a police source said.

“Ahmed has claimed innocence, saying he had invited her to his guesthouse room for drink session and had offered her only beer. He claims Laurine had brought the drug and he had no idea about how much drugs she had consumed. When she fell lifeless on the bed, he panicked and decided to remain silent,” said a police officer.

The officer said she had first come in contact with Ahmed on March 31 during her visit to a handicraft shop near the guesthouse where she checked in a day earlier.

To impress her, he had invited her for the drinking session, the officer added.

Devesh Chandra Srivastava, additional CP (central), said, “The motive behind her death is still unclear and we are interrogating Ahmed. He is in police custody for three days. Laurine’s body has been handed over to the French embassy.”