Officials from the Military Intelligence Directorate are reported to be suspecting that Vice President Rtd General Constantino Chiwenga is suffering from polonium 210 poisoning.
The officials suspect that the highly lethal poison may have been administered by Chiwenga’s enemies as it is extremely difficult to trace in the human body. The former general who has appeared frail and lethargic is recent public appearances, went for treatment in India last week is reported to be admitted at a military hospital in the Asian country.
Military sources who spoke to Spotlight Zimbabwe are quoted as saying.
Constantino Chiwenga was rushed to an Indian military hospital following suspicion that he could have been poisoned with some kind of dose of a lethal poison or military grade nerve agent during the November coup period, said the sources.
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| Constantino Chiwenga's Illness In Scary Twist As Officials Suspect Polonium 210 Poisoning. |
Polonium 210 is a known carcinogen (a substance capable of causing cancer in living tissue). When inhaled, it causes lung cancer, and if swallowed, it becomes concentrated in red blood cells, before spreading to the liver, kidneys, bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract, and the testicles or ovaries. It was infamously used to kill the former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, in London in 2006.
Litvinenko died of radiation sickness after he allegedly swallowed a fatal dose of Polonium 210 while drinking tea at a business meeting with two other Russians.
Another high profile world leader, thought to have succumbed to polonium 210 is the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, according to a Swiss forensic report obtained by Al-Jazeera.
