Sunanda Pushkar murder: I have done no wrong, so won't resign as MP, says Shashi Tharoor

New Delhi, Jan 28: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor may soon be questioned again in connection with his wife Sunanda Pushkar's mysterious death, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi said.

Tharoor who has already been examined by the SIT once lashed out at media and a section of his own party which has been demanding his resignation.

Tharoor was quoted as saying in an IBN report, "As far as I am concerned, if we are going to become a country in which any charges in the media however unfounded, however false should lead a politician to give up the trust of the voters that he has won the hard way, then what kind of democracy is this. We have rules in our democracy, we have rules in our society, we have laws. I will respect the laws and I have always done so."

Defending himself Tharoor was further quoted as saying in the IBN report, "You've never seen a leak from me in six years, you've never seen one unauthorised revelation or a secret or anything else in my ministerial functions. You have not seen one action or word that would in any way betray the values of our Constitution of our civilisation and certainly there is absolutely nothing in our laws of our country's political discourse that says that an MP must resign as an MP because the media or some sections of the media have decided to invent and concoct conspiracies against him. That is absurd."

Tharoor was questioned by police on January 19 for around four hours at the office of Anti Auto Theft Squad (AATS) in South Delhi's Vasant Vihar.

"SIT is continuously probing the case. Whatever is necessary, they have been doing and I am sure that if they require to question anyone again, they will be doing that and they will be doing that soon," Bassi told reporters here when asked when would Tharoor be questioned again.

Sources said that SIT is likely to question the former Union minister this week as they got very "little time" with him on January 19. They also said that as he was the "closest relative" of the deceased at the spot when she was found dead, he may be questioned several times as the SIT would want to ask him about the things which would arise during examination of other witnesses and people concerned.

52-year-old Sunanda was found dead in a room in the hotel on January 17 last year. Delhi Police filed a case of murder in the case on January 1 and an SIT was formed to probe the case.

Since then, police has questioned a number of people in this connection including domestic aides of Tharoor, staff of the hotel where Sunanda was found dead, family friend Sanjay Dewan and the hotel doctor who pronounced her dead.

Recently, it has also recorded the statements of several journalists in this regard with whom Sunanda had spoken a day before her death to find out whether she had mentioned to them about the IPL controversy, her husband Tharoor's alleged relations with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar or about any plans of hers to hold a press conference.

Journalist Nalini Singh had on Friday told the SIT that she had spoken to Sunanda about taking the blame for her husband in the IPL controversy following which police decided to rope in the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to examine the business model of the erstwhile IPL Kochi franchise and to understand the controversy surrounding it. The investigators are now examining whether the IPL controversy had anything to do with Sunanda's death.

The IPL controversy had broken out in early 2010 when Tharoor was Minister of State for External Affairs. There were allegations that he had "misused" his office to ensure that Rs 70 crore, which was equivalent to 19 per cent equity in IPL Kochi franchise Rendezvous Sports, was paid to Sunanda. Sunanda, who was then a friend and yet to become Tharoor's wife, had refuted allegations of any wrongdoing.

She had also denied that she was acting as the front for Tharoor in the Kochi IPL franchise. Later, she quit Rendezvous Sports World after deciding to return her free equity worth Rs 70 crore to the franchise.

Ex-SP leader Amar Singh questioned in Sunanda Pushkar death case

Delhi Police Wednesday questioned former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh in connection with its ongoing probe into the murder of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

Singh was questioned at south Delhi's Vasant Vihar Police station for around two hours.

Amar Singh told media that he was questioned by the Special Investigating Team (SIT) of Delhi Police for around two hours following his earlier statement.

Singh refused to reveal the interrogation points but said: "When the SIT team of Delhi Police came to know that Sunanda had talked to me a few days before her death, they asked me to know the sequence of my talk with her."

Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi said: "Amar Singh had claimed that he had some inputs related to the case. He had also revealed some point in the media. He was called for questioning today (Wednesday)."

OneIndia News

(With inputs from agencies)