Sunanda Pushkar case: 3 years after suspected murder, Court asks police why it needs time to investigate scene

New Delhi: A court in New Delhi on Monday asked a senior Delhi Police officer to appear and explain why they needed more time for investigation of Room 345 of Hotel Leela Palace where former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor’s wife Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in January 2014. [caption id=“attachment_4000355” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Sunanda Pushkar and Shashi Tharoor. AP[/caption] Metropolitan Magistrate Dharmender Singh asked the Deputy Commissioner of Police concerned to appear before him, observing that despite its order to de-seal the room, which has remained locked since 17 January, 2014, the police are seeking more time on the pretext of investigation. The police told court that they have sent some more items collected from the room to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) and sought more time to keep the room sealed as they have to collect evidence. The court said it wants the DCP present on 12 September, the next date fixed for hearing, due to lethargic attitude and laxity on part of investigating agency. On 21 July, the court ordered the de-sealing of Room 345, saying that the hotel cannot be made to suffer continuously merely because the investigating team cannot ascertain the cause of death. The hotel had told the court that as the room has been locked for over three years, termites, bugs and other pests have spoiled the whole room and even the adjoining areas. It also said that it would allow the investigators to take whatever things they want as evidence from the room, even as it noted that no investigating agency had visited it for the past one year and keeping the room closed for three years had caused it great financial loss.