Delhi Police move 'stuns' Tharoor

Promises cooperation; wants 'unvarnished' truth to come out

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said he was “stunned” to know that his wife Sunanda Pushkar was poisoned to death, and that a murder case has been filed by the Delhi Police.

The former Union minister demanded a comprehensive investigation into the case so that the “unvarnished truth” comes out.

“Needless to say, I am anxious to see this that case is investigated thoroughly, and continue to assure the police of my full cooperation,” he said in a statement on his Facebook page.

However, with TV crew and mediamen waiting outside an Ayurvedic resort near the temple town of Guruvayur in Kerala where Tharoor is reportedly undergoing treatment, a resort employee said he had sent word that he did not want to meet anybody.

Tharoor, meanwhile, has requested the police for copies of the post-mortem and CFSL reports, saying that he had not been given these till date. “We repeat our request for a copy of these reports immediately,” he said.

He also asked the police for the “full information” on the basis of which the case was filed. Tharoor found some support from his party, which put out an appeal for maintaining a sense of balance and refraining from giving it any sensational overtone.

“It is not yet certain whether Sunanda’s death was suicide or murder,” said AICC spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, adding that the registration of FIR was “just the beginning and not the end of the legal process”.

“Every person has the full right to be treated as completely innocent unless and until a process of law goes beyond and further,” he said.

Interestingly, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who belongs to the Congress, refused to comment on the issue.

However, the BJP and the Left parties were unforgiving in their remarks, and demanded Tharoor’s resignation as Member of Parliament. BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao said the probe must reach a conclusion.

“If justice is not done soon, it would suffer,” he said.
CPM leader V S Achuthanandan wanted the Congress leadership to ask Tharoor to vacate the Parliament seat. “Tharoor’s continuance as an MP is legally and morally wrong since the Delhi Police have made it clear that he would be questioned in the case,” said Achuthanandan.

Kerala BJP president V Muraleedharan and CPI state-unit secretary Pannian Raveendran echoed similar sentiments.

Meanwhile, activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India took out a march near the state secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram demanding Tharoor’s resignation.