6 undergo polygraph tests in Sunanda murder case

June 23, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:34 am IST - New Delhi:

NEW DELHI, 18/01/2014 : (FILE PHOTO) Late Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, at a function, in New Delhi on July 19, 2013.
Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

NEW DELHI, 18/01/2014 : (FILE PHOTO) Late Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, at a function, in New Delhi on July 19, 2013. Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

A special investigation team (SIT) has conducted polygraph tests on six people associated with former Union Minister and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in the Sunanda Pushkar murder case, it emerged on Monday.

Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi said these were conducted as per the permission from a court.

“So far, we have carried out polygraph tests on six people. We are waiting for the reports. If there is any requirement, we will conduct further tests,” Mr. Bassi told reporters.

A senior police officer said the tests were conducted on Mr. Tharoor’s domestic helps Narayan Singh and Bajrangi in addition to his family friends Sanjay Dewan, S K Sharma, Vikas Ahlawat and Sunil Takru in the presence of their respective legal representatives as per the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court and the National Human Rights Commission.

Over a hundred questions were asked during the tests, which included the ones about Mr. Tharoor’s relationship with Ms. Pushkar, especially after the businesswoman-cum-socialite had a public fall-out with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar.

IPL controversy

Questions related to the Indian Premier League controversy over a particular team’s ownership issues and the couple’s trips to Dubai were asked too, the officer said.

While Mr. Singh had earlier told the police that he and Ms. Pushkar quarrelled often, they had had an argument early on January 17, 2014, just hours before her body was recovered from a room at the upscale Leela Kempinski hotel in South Delhi. He was on night duty and was replaced by other domestic help Bajrangi. Bajrangi was on duty till 4 p.m., when Mr. Singh returned. He then tried waking Ms. Pushkar twice along with her personal assistant R K Sharma at 4.30 p.m. and 5.30 p.m.

After failing to get a response, he called Mr. Tharoor at 7.30 p.m., who reached the hotel and opened the door with his key. Inside, Ms. Pushkar was found dead. Family friend Sanjay Dewan was among the first to reach the hotel. Sunil Takru’s name had cropped up during Mr. Singh’s questioning.

Over a hundred questions were asked to Shashi Tharoor's domestic helps Narayan Singh and Bajrangi in addition to his family friends Sanjay Dewan, S K Sharma, Vikas Ahlawat and Sunil Takru

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