Sunanda Pushkar murder: Shashi Tharoor questioned for 4 hours in Delhi

Delhi Police on Monday began questioning Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in the mysterious murder of his wife Sunanda Pushkar in January last year. [caption id=“attachment_2054105” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Shashi Tharoor was questioned by the SIT in connection with the Sunanda Pushkar murder case. AFP[/caption] Tharoor reached the Vasant Vihar police station in south Delhi on Monday evening — a few hours after he was issued a notice, media reports said. This is for the first time Tharoor has been questioned on the death of 52-year-old Sunanda. The Congress MP had a meeting with his lawyers at his residence in Lodhi Estate before proceeding to SIT office which has been heavily barricaded to keep a waiting media at bay. According to this report in the NDTV, Tharoor was questioned by a team of four officers. He was asked a set of 50 questions in the first round of interrogation out of three. Sources told the Telegraph that the former Union minister was asked to describe and explain all the circumstances leading to Sunanda’s death. The 52-year-old’s body was found on the night of January 17 last year in a Delhi hotel suite she was sharing with Tharoor. ““We asked him (Tharoor) specific questions about the reported tiff he had with Sunanda over his alleged affair with Tarar,” an officer told the Telegraph. He would also be questioned about the circumstances in which Sunanda had left him at the airport after returning from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi on 15 January and checked in at Leela Hotel. Specific questions will also be asked about the reported tiff he had with Sunanda over his alleged affair with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar. Delhi police commissioner BS Bassi had earlier on Monday maintained that all those people relevant in the case are being examined by the Special Investigation Team probing the high-profile case. Asked when Tharoor would be questioned and whether a notice has been served, Bassi had said, “Notice has been issued and he may be questioned today, tomorrow or day after tomorrow.” Tharoor, who had been out of town, had arrived in Delhi on Monday afternoon. He had refused to respond to a volley of questions related to the case from reporters. “I can assure you that our objective is to complete our investigation as soon as possible. I understand Mr Tharoor can be examined soon by the SIT,” Bassi had said. Asked whether Tharoor will be questioned at his home or somewhere else, the police chief had said that the SIT will take a call, “wherever they will find it convenient they will do it.” On the number of times the former union minister can be questioned and for how long, he had said, “I cannot say at this moment. May be it could be for few minutes may be it could be a longer exercise.” When reporters asked Bassi about BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s tweet alleging that Tharoor wrote to an investigating officer in the case in December, the police chief saw nothing wrong with it, saying anybody can write a letter to them. “So if anything is being said by Mr Tharoor, as said by you, if it would be relevant, it would be part of our investigation and if it is not relevant, it won’t be part of investigation,” Bassi had said, while adding that the police have not replied to any of Tharoor’s letters. The police have already questioned four people, including Tharoor’s former Personal Security Officer and Dr Sanjay Dewan, the Consul General for Cape Verde and a family friend of Tharoor. Tharoor’s wife Sunanda Pushkar was found dead at a South Delhi hotel on 17 January last year, days after a spat on social media involving Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar, whom she accused of having an affair with her husband. Delhi Police had lodged a murder case on 1 January this year, two days after getting the final autopsy report from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Soon after lodging the FIR (first information report), the SIT had questioned Tharoor’s domestic help. On Sunday, Bassi had said that the probe into Pushkar’s case would end soon. “Our SIT (Special Investigation Team) is investigating the case and will reach its conclusion soon. They are looking into each and every aspect. They have already questioned several people and the remaining will be questioned in the next couple of days,” Bassi had told the media. (With agency inputs)