Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar, who was involved in a spat with Sunanda Pushkar just a day before the latter's death, has been questioned by the Delhi Police. Since Tarar is a Pakistani citizen, she could not be sent summons, and so the Delhi Police asked her to join the probe and cooperate, which she is said to have done in February this year.
It may be worth reiterating that Pushkar, the thrid wife of Thiruvananthapuram MP and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, was found dead in the room of a five-star hotel in Delhi on Jan. 17, 2014, a day after she had sparred with Tarar on Twitter over the Pakistani jounralist's apparent proximity with Tharoor.
Delhi Police sources told the Indian Express that Tarar was initially told about the allegations levelled by Pushkar's friend and journalist Nalini Singh. Singh had claimed Pushkar had told her hours before her death that Tharoor had spent three days in Dubai with Tarar sometime in mid-2013. Singh had also said Sunanda had claimed she had proof of this.
However, Tarar denied all such allegations, especially those saying she was close to Tharoor. However, she did say she had met Tharoor in 2013, but in a book exhibition. Her statement was recorded, which means the Delhi Police have now recorded the statements of all the parties believed to be involved in Pushkar's death.
However, they are still far from being able to determine exactly what killed Pushkar, let alone who did the killing. While it was initially suspected that she had died of a medical drug overdose, subsequent tests by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, that she had been killed by poison, whose presence was detected in her body.
Samples of her viscera were later sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for testing, and they concurred with the AIIMS report, adding that the substance was "dangerous."
