Sunanda Pushkar found dead in Delhi hotel, magisterial probe ordered

Congress MP and Union Minister Shashi Tharoor`s wife Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor has been reportedly found dead in room number 345 of Leela hotel, Chanakyapuri here under mysterious circumstances on Friday night.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Congress MP and Union Minister Shashi Tharoor`s wife Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor has been reportedly found dead in room number 345 of Leela hotel at around 8:50 pm, Chanakyapuri here under mysterious circumstances on Friday night. According to the initial reports, police have recovered the dead body from the hotel, yet the cause of Sunanda`s death is not yet ascertained. Forensic experts of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) along with police rushed at the spot to examine the scene of occurrence. The body of 52-year-old Pushkar, a woman entrepreneur who married Tharoor in August 2010, was found in mysterious circumstances in luxury Leela Palace hotel in South Delhi, top police sources said. However, Sunanda`s death is being speculated as a suicide case. In an another aspect, police will also investigate into the medical records of the Sunanda, who was reportedly on medication for Lupus, stomach TB. Reports also suggest that she was undergoing medication for two diseases. First, auto immune disease Lupus, second stomach tuberculosis. “We have ordered a magisterial inquiry to know the cause of death. No external injury found on her body,” Delhi Police Commissioner said. Meanwhile, Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said inquest proceedings have been initiated by the sub-divisional magistrate of the area. Any death within seven years of marriage is legally required to be investigated by the sub-divisional magistrate. Speaking to the media Abhinav Kumar, the private secretary of Shashi Tharoor, revealed that police investigation is on and further details will be out only after post-mortem is done, which is expected to happen tomorrow. Kumar told reporters at the hotel that Tharoor and Pushkar were staying in a suite since yesterday as some painting work was on at home. The Minister was away throughout the day in the AICC, he said. When he came back around 8:30 PM, he found the door of her room inside the suite locked from the inside. She seemed to be sleeping in a normal way but later it was found she was dead. Kumar added there was no sign of foul play but whether it was natural death or not cannot be said now. "The cause of death and the time of death, we cannot say now," he said. Tharoor and his wife Sunanda on Thursday had issued a joint statement saying they are distressed by an `unseemly controversy` over some "unauthorised tweets" posted from their Twitter accounts and that both are "happily married and intend to remain that way". Over a Twitter controversy, Sunanda Tharoor on Wednesday had alleged that her husband was having an `extra-marital affair` with a Pakistan-based journalist. Talking to a daily, Sunanda had also said she would now `seek divorce` from Tharoor. Reacting to the above controversy, the journalist had threatened to sue Sunanda. Tharoor`s wife had welcomed the scribe`s move. The furious wife`s statement came shortly after the suave thrice-married human resources minister claimed that his Twitter account had been hacked. Notably, some controversial tweets were posted from his account last evening, leaving the followers utterly astonished. The tweets referred to Mehr Tarar, a Pakistani journalist. Late in the night Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to Tharoor and condoled Pushkar`s death. "I am deeply saddened at your loss. May God give you strength in this hour of grief", he told Tharoor.