Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar was questioned by the Delhi Police in connection with the mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor.
According to a police source, Tarar’s questioning took place in February at a place of her choice at a prominent hotel in New Delhi. She was questioned by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case in the presence of women police personnel.
“Tarar was asked whether she was in a relationship with Tharoor and was going to tie the knot with him. Whether she was telephonically or via messages in touch with Tharoor on the day of Pushkar’s death or before,” said the source.
Tarar was further asked if she had done anything to disrupt the relationship between Tharoor and Pushkar. “We had also questioned her about the fight she had over Twitter with Pushkar to which she said she had a lot of respect for Tharoor and Pushkar was putting wrong allegations on her,” said the source.
“To all our questions, Tarar replied in the negative but did admit to us that she knew Tharoor and had met the politician in Dubai. She also denied having any proximity with Pushkar,” said the source.
Tarar’s alleged friendship with Tharoor had led to a row between him and Pushkar, who was found dead in a luxury hotel in Delhi on January 17, 2014 under mysterious circumstances.
Joint Commissioner of Police (South-East Range) RP Upadhyay said Tarar was questioned by the Delhi Police a few months back this year. She had joined the probe in February last and was questioned at length. However, I am not in a position to comment anything as I’ve not gone through the details of the questioning,” Upadhyay said.
Ironically, the police officials who dealt with the case which included the Commissioner of Police, Special CP (law and order), two joint CPs (Southeastern Range), two DCPs, two additional DCPs, the ACP of the STF and the first investigating officer (IO) have already been moved out through routine transfers. BS Bassi, the then Delhi Police chief, has retired while other senior police officers are posted to different wings.
When asked if the transfers will have any impact on the probe, the joint CP said, “It’s the officers who have been transferred, not the posts they were holding. The officers who have joined these posts are carrying forward the probe. Whatever needs to be done will be done in the case,” Upadhyay said.
Incidentally, Pushkar’s death took place on January 17, 2014, a day after she was involved in a spat with Tarar on Twitter over the latter’s alleged affair with Tharoor.
There has been no significant development in the case since after the last changes took place in police hierarchy that includes retirement of Bassi, former police chief.
Tarar had reportedly written an email to then Police Commissioner BS Bassi, saying she was willing to join the probe. When she came to Delhi in February she was questioned by a team headed by the then DCP South district Prem Nath in a five star hotel.