FILE: Sunanda Puskhar and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor (Reuters photo)
Whether Congressman Shashi Tharoor will be questioned regarding his wife's alleged murder has not yet been decided, said Delhi Police Chief BS Bassi today. He also told reporters that he has not replied to Mr Tharoor's letter that outlines what the politician described as "grave concerns" about how the inquiry is being conducted.
"Everyone has the right to raise concerns about a case, whether it is someone directly linked to the case, or an outsider," said the police chief.
Earlier this month, a murder investigation was launched against "unknown persons" for the death of Sunanda Pushkar who was found dead a year ago in a five-star hotel in Delhi. The murder case says Ms Pushkar died of poisoning according to a medical report submitted in December.
Mr Bassi said today that the couple's involvement in the Indian Premier League is being examined. Mr Tharoor had to resign as union minister in 2010 after accusations of corruption linking him to the cricket franchise for his home state of Kerala - Ms Pushkar was allegedly given stakes worth about $15 million (around Rs 94 crore) for free.
In recent days, the police have questioned several people who were close to the couple; their domestic help, Narain Singh, was also interrogated for the third time.
In the first two sessions, the man was beaten by the police in an attempt to make him confess that he had killed Ms Puskhar along with Mr Tharoor, the politician alleged in a letter written to the police chief in November that surfaced last week.
Mr Tharoor disclosed to reporters on Friday that he had written a second letter last week about the investigation to Mr Bassi, but did not elaborate, saying that any public comment could compromise the inquiry.
Mr Bassi has refuted the allegations that his police force has made any attempt to frame Mr Tharoor.
The police chief denied that medical samples from Ms Pukshar have been sent to a foreign lab to determine what sort of poison killed her.