Politician Shashi Tharoor Interrogated for 4 Hours by Police in Wife Sunanda's Murder Case

New Delhi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor was interrogated for four hours tonight about the alleged murder of his wife, Sunanda Pushkar, who was found dead in a five-star hotel in Delhi a year ago.

Sources said that Mr Tharoor, who drove into a police station in South Delhi's Vasant Vihar, was asked over 50 questions by a team of four officers in the first of a likely three rounds of interrogation. (The Questions Put to Congressman Shashi Tharoor By Police)

Earlier this month, the police launched a murder inquiry after stating that Ms Pushkar who was 51, was poisoned. The murder case does not name a suspect. (Sunanda Pushkar Death: Medical Report That Led to Filing of Murder Case)

Last week, at a press conference at an ayurvedic clinic in Kerala where he spent two weeks, Mr Tharoor  reiterated what he described as his continuing cooperation, but said he has written to Delhi Police Chief BS Bassi with concerns about how the inquiry is being conducted.

Since the murder case was registered on January 6, the police has questioned staff members and friends of Mr Tharoor and Ms Pushkar, who married in 2010. It was the third marriage for both. Mr Tharoor was a union minister in Dr Manhoman Singh's government when Ms Pushkar publicly accused him of having an affair with a Pakistani journalist. Two days later, she was found dead in her bed in the hotel suite that the couple had checked into. (Also read: What Shashi Tharoor Told Investigators After Wife Sunanda Pushkar's Death)

Ms Pushkar's death was debated as a possible suicide for months. Mr Tharoor said that he was "stunned" to discover the police believes she was killed.

He said last week that the investigation must be "free of political pressure or a pre-determined outcome."

In a letter to the Delhi Police Chief written in November, he had complained that his domestic helper had been beaten up during interrogation by policemen who wanted him to confess to killing Ms Pushkar along with the politician. (Shashi Tharoor's Letter to Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi)

The police chief has said Mr Tharoor's accusations of an attempt to frame him are baseless. (Read More...)