Sunanda Pushkar Murder Case: Pakistani Journalist Mehr Tarar Likely to be Questioned

New Delhi:

Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar is likely to be questioned on the alleged murder of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushkar, the Delhi police said today.

"If necessary, she will be questioned. We will try and get in touch with her because she is a relevant person who can throw some light into the case," said Delhi Police Commission BS Bassi. He added that the police is awaiting a full forensic report of some gadgets that were seized, "based on which we will decide to examine somebody or not."

Days before her death, Sunanda Pushkar had a public spat with Ms Tarar on micro-blogging site Twitter over her alleged affair with her husband. Following which the Throors issued a joint statement saying, "we wish to stress that we are happily married and intend to remain that way."

On January 18 last year, Ms Tarar had told a Pakistani TV channel that she was a "victim of conspiracy." The Lahore-based journalist added that she had met Mr Tharoor twice in 2013 where "a lot of people were present."

52-year-old Sunanda Pushkar was found dead in her suite at a five-star hotel in South Delhi on the night of January 17 last year.

Earlier this year, the police said she was poisoned, and registered a murder case without naming any suspect. A Special Investigation Team has questioned at least 15 people, including Shashi Tharoor.

Mr Tharoor, who is a witness in the case, had "answered most questions" and did admit to some extent that there were marital trouble, said police sources. A year ago, just after her death, he had told investigators that there were "misunderstandings" but he and Sunanda had a largely happy marriage.

Sources say, that lot depends on the detailed viscera report, which was sent to US Labs a few ago, to determine the nature of poison that killed Ms Pushkar. The report will be the basis of what the next step in the investigation is likely to be.