Sunanda Pushkar Murder Case: Three Key Witnesses to Undergo Lie-Detector Test

New Delhi: In its attempts to determine how Sunanda Pushkar died, the Delhi Police will use lie detector tests on three men known well to her husband and former minister Shashi Tharoor.

A Delhi court today gave the police permission to use the tests on Mr Tharoor's domestic help Narayan Singh, his driver Bajrangi and his friend Sanjay Dewan. All three have been interrogated earlier in the murder case.

Ms Pushkar was found dead in January 2014 in a posh Delhi hotel days after accusing her husband on Twitter of adultery. The police registered a murder case nearly an entire year later, but has not named any suspects.

Mr Tharoor has been questioned by the police on multiple occasions.

Doctors who conducted Ms Pushkar's post-mortem said that she died of poisoning.

Advertisement

The police team handling the case says that the three witnesses who will take lie detector tests appear to be withholding information that could be crucial to the investigation.

The couple's domestic help, Narayan Singh, did not mention a power cut in the hours before Ms Puskhar's death at the hotel where she was staying while the home she shared with Mr Tharoor was being renovated. He also allegedly did not provide a credible explanation for why he was using a cellphone that belonged to Mr Tharoor after Ms Pushkar died.

Advertisement

Bajrangi, who worked for the couple as a driver, testified that Ms Pushkar's hotel stay was necessitated by home repairs, even though the renovation had been completed, the police said in court. He also did not report the fact that Ms Pushkar was planning to hold a press conference.

Sanjay Dewan, a family friend who was present when Mr Tharoor found his wife dead in the hotel room, summoned a doctor he knew well rather than contacting the nearest hospital or the hotel's doctor, the police said.