Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar questioned in Sunanda murder case

Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar, who was involved in a Twitter spat with Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s third wife Sunanda Pushkar just hours before her death, has been questioned in connection with the case, the Delhi police said on Monday.

Joint commissioner of police (southeast range) R.P. Upadhyay confirmed that Ms Tarar had been questioned by the Delhi police. “In February, she joined the investigation and was questioned. However, I am not in a position to comment anything as I’ve not gone through the details of the questioning,” Mr Upadhyay said.

According to a police source, Ms Tarar was questioned in February at a place of her choice, a prominent hotel, in New Delhi. She was questioned in presence of female police personnel by the special investigation team (SIT), led by DCP Premnath, probing the January 2014 death of Pushkar.

“Ms Tarar was asked whether she in a relationship with Mr Tharoor and if she was planning to tie the knot with the politician soon and whether she was telephonically or via messages in touch with Mr Tharoor on the day of Pushkar’s death or before that,” said the source.

Ms Tarar had written an email to the then police commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi, saying she was willing to join the probe. Summons could not be issued to Ms Tarar as she is a Pakistani national, but she had stated that she was open to joining the investigation into the matter, said a senior police official.

Ms Tarar was also asked by the police if she had done anything to disrupt the relationship between Mr Tharoor and Pushkar. “We had also questioned her about the Twitter fight she had with Sunanda. She said she had a lot of respect for Mr Tharoor and Sunanda and all such allegations about her are completely baseless,” said the source. “To all our questions, Ms Tarar replied in the negative, but did admit to us that she knew Mr Tharoor and had met the politician at a book fair. She even denied having any proximity with Sunanda Pushkar,” said the source. Ms Tarar’s alleged friendship with Mr Tharoor had led to a row between him and Pushkar.