Former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor may well be questioned again by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the South district probing the mysterious murder of his wife Sunanda Pushkar.
Days after quizzing Sunanda Pushkar’s son Shiv Menon in connection with her mysterious death, Delhi Police’s SIT is likely to further question former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor and his personal staff members, including an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who was his Private Secretary (PS) then.
“As I had told you earlier we had recorded the statement of Shiv Menon. We have got some information from the SIT, which was analysing the statement and regarding that we need to question Tharoor and other members (staff, Tharoor’s other employees),” Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi told waiting media on Monday.
“Very soon, I think by Wednesday the team is likely to question them again,” he said. “The DCP (South) has to supervise the (Delhi) poll counting, so if needed, on Wednesday or Thursday they will be questioned further.”
Menon was questioned by SIT on February 5 till late evening that day. Police sources said that Menon was asked how the relationship was between Tharoor and his wife Sunanda. Asked who all would SIT question, Bassi said, “Whoever was known to Sunanda Tharoor has been questioned. If someone hasn’t been as yet, SIT will talk to them too.”
The police team probing the case has questioned at least 15 people in this connection. Tharoor, a Congress MP, his staff members and close friends were among those quizzed by Delhi Police. Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and senior journalist Nalini Singh, too, have been questioned by police.
Fifty two-year-old Sunanda was found dead in her suite at a five-star hotel in South Delhi on the night of January 17, 2014, a day after she was involved in a spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar on microblogging website Twitter over the latter’s alleged affair with Tharoor.
Delhi Police had last month registered and FIR under section 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) against unknown persons after the final forensic report from the experts of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) cited her death was caused by poison.