Police Chief B.S. Bassi on Tuesday said that if necessary, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor could be questioned again in the mysterious death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar in January last year.
“We have examined several people related to this case. Some of them are still to be questioned and we are in the process of completing our questioning,” Mr. Bassi told the media.
Asked about Mr. Tharoor’s questioning Monday night, he said: “Tharoor was questioned for around three—and—a—half hours...and if necessary he will be called for a second round of questioning.”
Pushkar was found dead in a luxury hotel here Jan 17, 2014. Police have said she was poisoned to death.
Mr. Bassi said that “our SIT (Special Investigation Team) questioned Tharoor about the background of the incident and also the incident”.
He added that the police was analysing Tharoor’s answers given to the interrogating team.
Mr. Tharoor was questioned Monday evening — hours after he was issued a notice.
According to sources, police had prepared a 100-point questionnaire for Mr. Tharoor covering different aspects of the case. The questioning came nearly three weeks after a case of murder was registered on the basis of a medical report which concluded that she died of poisoning.
Mr. Tharoor was questioned by officers of the Delhi Police’s Special Investigation Team at the Anti Auto Theft Squad office located in South Delhi.
He was served with a notice in the afternoon to join investigation. He reached the AATS office around 8 p.m. and was quizzed by a five-member team. Sources said that Mr. Tharoor was questioned about the happenings of January 17, 2014, when his wife was found dead.
He was also asked about Ms. Pushkar’s illness or whether she was suffering from any serious disease. “Mr. Tharoor was also questioned about their fight on the flight and whether this was the reason why Ms. Pushkar left him at the airport on their return from Thiruvananthpuram to Delhi on January 15 and checked in at Leela Palace,” a source said.
Questions about Mr. Tharoor’s alleged affair with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar also came up. While maintaining that they framed all the questions after examining different aspects of the case, police refused to divulge any details about Mr. Tharoor's responses.
“Listed among the possibility (of poison) is Polonium-210, a rare and highly radioactive isotope, which is hard to detect because all the radiation remains in the body. A lethal dose could be as little as a few milligrams, which could be administered as a powder or dissolved in liquid/drinks,” said the AIIMS report. >Read more…
The final report, prepared by the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences after studying the viscera report, says Sunanda’s death was caused by “poison” and not by an “overdose of Alprax.” This contradicts the preliminary report, which said “Alprax” was detected in the body. >Read more…
Eminent forensic scientist P. Chandrasekharan, who served as the principal scientific investigator in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, said the death of Sunanda Pushkar was “accidental and self-induced” >Read more…
.Shashi Tharoor refused to comment on the controversy stirred by a senior AIIMS forensic doctor’s allegation that he was pressured to manipulate the post mortem report of Sunanda Pushkar >Read more…
AIIMS forensic department head stuck to his controversial claim that he was pressurized to manipulate the post mortem report of Sunanda Pushkar >Read more…
Family sources told The Hindu that Sunanda Pushkar was deeply stressed after she dramatically tweeted messages suggesting a romantic relationship between her husband and Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar. >Read more…