IANS/New Delhi
Police yesterday said they do not plan to question Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in the
murder of his wife Sunanda Pushkar any time soon as they first wanted to examine all other
people related with the case and look into all available evidence.
The police will first question 11 other people including Pushkar’s son Shiv Menon, her
brothers Ashish Dass and Rajesh Pushkar, her cardiologist Rajat Mohan, a identified as
woman Kaitie, Tharoor’s personal assistant Rakesh Kumar Sharma and another family friend
Sanjay Dewan before questioning the former minister.
Dewan found Pushkar dead when he came to the Leela Palace hotel to enquire about her
health.
Senior journalist Nalini Singh, with whom Pushkar was believed to be in touch by phone
before her death, will also be called to join the investigation, an official said.
Besides, two of Tharoor’s officers on special duty (OSD) Shiv Kumar Prasad and Abhinav
Kumar, along with driver Bajrangi will also be questioned.
“The police will question relatives, family friends of the couple, Tharoor’s personal
assistant, PSOs, servants and others and then, if necessary, Tharoor will be called. All
the available evidence will also be gathered and only after that we may question him,” the
official said.
“We have not called Tharoor for questioning as we do not need him at this moment,” he
said.
Initially, the Special Investigative Team (SIT) set up to investigate the case wanted to
question Tharoor straight away and a notice asking him to join the probe was also prepared
but it was not sent at the last moment as the police top brass decided to question others
first.
“This approach will help us pose those questions to him which will arise during
questioning of all these people related with the case,” the official said, adding that no
IPL angle has come up in the case so far as speculated by media.
Tharoor yesterday said he did not have anything more to add to what he had stated in
public about the case on Friday.
“It is pointless for you to waste your time on other matters. I said very clearly what I
said in Guruvayur yesterday. I have nothing more to add and you are not going to get me to
add anything more,” he told reporters in Kochi.
Tharoor said on Friday he would extend full co-operation in a “fair” investigation and
demanded a professional police probe without any political pressure or consideration and
pre-determined outcome.
Pushkar was found dead in mysterious conditions in the luxury hotel on January 17, 2014.
Police registered a murder case on January 1 based on a medical report of the All India
Institute of Medical Sciences which confirmed poisoning.
The police on Friday said they had questioned a close friend of Pushkar identified as
Sunil Trakru, a businessman.
Another official said Trakru’s name surfaced during the questioning of Tharoor’s domestic
help Shri Narayan Singh in November last year. Singh was again questioned on Thursday for
a few hours, during which he revealed that the couple had a fight a day before Pushkar was
found dead.
Tharoor meanwhile yesterday visited the ongoing Kochi-Muziris Biennale in Kochi.
The former UN diplomat was accompanied by his mother Lily Tharoor and spent a long time
enjoying the paintings and installations of artists from across the globe.
Tharoor and his mother look at artworks displayed at the Biennale in Kochi yesterday.
