It seems that mysterious death of Sunanda Pushkar has come back to haunt the Congress leader, Shashi Tharoor. Delhi Police has decided to press charges against the leader who is cherished by the elitist class. Going by recent news reports, the Delhi Police is set to charge Shashi Tharoor under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for abetment of suicide and Section 201 for destruction of evidence in his wife’s mysterious death. Sunanda Pushkar had been found dead inside a five-star hotel suite, a day after she was involved in a spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar on twitter regarding the latter’s alleged affair with Shashi Tharoor. This comes in the background of an SIT probe by the Delhi Police. Even the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) forensic lab had been roped in during the investigations to trace conclusive proof for the “poison” allegedly found in Sunanda’s body.
It is not for the first time that indications of foul play in Sunanda Pushkar’s death have emerged. In January 2016 itself, the then Delhi Police Commissioner Bassi had hinted that Sunanda Pushkar might have been poisoned. He had further stated that the FBI investigations had given certain leads that would be further investigated by the Police. It must be borne in mind that after a murder case was registered by the Delhi Police in January 2015, an AIIMS medical board had found poisoning as a probable cause of death. According to sources, a bite mark had been found on the left hand of the deceased and there were several blue contusions on her right hand. The then Delhi Police Commissioner Bassi had also stated that the police will also be enquiring into the details of friendship between Mehr Tarar and Shashi Tharoor which had led to a row between him and Sunanda Pushkar.
In fact, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and leading journalist Arnab Goswami had already pointed out that everything was not right in the Sunanda Pushkar murder case. Moreover, Subramanian Swamy had always been quite vocal about demanding fair enquiry in the case. He has been quite active in demanding an independent probe in the matter and even approached the High Court and the Supreme Court pleading for a CBI-monitored SIT probe into the matter.
Arnab Goswami had also done a news story into the suspicious death which had been derided by other media outlets and the entire Congress cabal saying that he had no right to do a news story on the matter. However, the Delhi High Court had come to Goswami’s relief observing that Arnab Goswmi and Republic TV have the right to do stories against Shashi Tharoor. They only needed to seek Tharoor’s version before doing a story.
The so called liberal and lutyens’ intellectuals have always defended Shashi Tharoor against a probe into his wife’s death. They have maintained that Tharoor must be kept free from investigations and that howsoever suspicious the death might be, it remains his personal matter. However, the decision taken by Delhi Police to charge-sheet Tharoor is a major shot in the arm for Goswami and Subramanian Swamy. It seems that they were making genuine claims after all and there might be a lot to be unearthed in the mysterious murder case.