Tags
Reuters/New Delhi
Former Indian minister and former United Nations diplomat Shashi Tharoor may be questioned by Delhi police after they opened a murder investigation against "unknown persons" following the death of his glamorous wife.
Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in her five-star hotel room in the Indian capital in January 2014, after publicly accusing Tharoor of having an extra-marital affair with a Pakistani journalist.
Almost a year after her death, police opened a murder investigation on Tuesday. Tharoor has not been identified as a suspect.
"Whatever is necessary will be done," Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi told reporters on Wednesday when asked if the police would interview Tharoor, who has cooperated with investigations since the death.
After an autopsy initially concluded Pushkar probably died of an overdose of anti-depressant drugs, Indian police said on Tuesday that she was poisoned and a case was registered.
Tharoor said he was "stunned" to hear his wife's death was being investigated as murder, adding that he had never suspected foul play.
"We all want that a comprehensive investigation be conducted and that the unvarnished truth should come out," he said in a statement.
The couple were married in late 2010, the third marriage for each. As part of Delhi's social set, they frequently figured in the society pages of newspapers.
Tharoor was a junior education minister at the time of Pushkar's death. He remains a member of parliament for the Congress party, which has ruled India for most of the time since the nation gained independence.
In a letter to Bassi in November, Tharoor accused Delhi police officers of attempting to frame him and using physical coercion to try to intimidate his domestic help into "confessing" they had murdered Pushkar together, media reported.
An acclaimed author and prolific user of social media website Twitter, Tharoor was an under-secretary general during Kofi Annan's leadership of the United Nations.
In 2009, Tharoor won a seat in India's parliament from the southern state of Kerala and was later appointed the junior foreign minister.
He resigned in 2010 over allegations of corruption in winning a cricket league franchise after Pushkar was allegedly given stakes worth about $15 million for free.
There are no comments.
SPORT Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
TECHNOLOGY Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
CULTURE Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
ARABIA The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
ARABIA Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
ARABIA The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
ECONOMY Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.
