Unhappy with Sunanda case probe's pace: Tharoor

Five weeks after his wife Sunanda Pushkar was found dead under mysterious circumstances, Union Minister Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said he was "not happy" with the pace of the probe by the Delhi Police. 

Tharoor said it seems increasingly that Sunanda (52) died due to "health related" issues and it is also "increasingly clear" that there was no basis to take the case much further.

The Minister of State for Human Resources Development said he was "not happy" with the amount of time the investigating authorities were taking for completing the process as "non-sense speculations" were being made.

"It seems increasingly that a tragedy happened that is health related and not related to anything else. But we are waiting for the police investigation to get over and to see the final determination by the doctors and medical team," Tharoor told Headlines Today in an interview.

He said he was fully cooperating with the police investigation "even though there is no case against me personally."

Asked about the progress in the investigations by the Delhi Police in the case, Tharoor said, "(it is) increasingly clear that they (police) have not filed an FIR, there is no charge sheet, there is no case, it is increasingly clear that there is no basis for taking the case very much further.

"I hope they will soon be in a position to come up with conclusion as all of us in the family, we would want this matter to be laid to rest."

He said that during the episode, Sunanda's son, father and brother have stood with him solidly and "we are not going to let Sunanda's memories to be soiled by other people's petty politics."

Asked about his state of mind after his wife's death, Tharoor said, "I was broken down. We were a happy couple and we had our share of ups and downs. She was an emotionally expressive person... I miss her everyday in my life."

Sunanda was found dead in a room of five-star Leela Palace Hotel in New Delhi under mysterious circumstances on January 17.

On the allegations levelled against him by the BJP and the CPI during the election campaign in Kerala, Tharoor said, "there are no credible personal allegations. Any specific allegations made against me can be easily refuted."

Tharoor said after bringing out certain tweets published by Sunanda, he had "shamed the CPI to withdraw some of the shameful allegations levelled against him by the party."

The Union Minister said he was "not totally happy" when some of the things were said during their marriage in public as they should have remained within the four walls of their house but "whatever has happened, has happened."

He said the five weeks after his wife's death have been "excruciatingly painful in all sorts of ways other than personal bereavement."

"The abrupt and sudden death of my wife has taken a severe emotional and psychic toll on me. On top of that, some people have stooped so low that they have tried to use my personal tragedy for their personal benefit," Tharoor said.

He also dismissed allegations levelled by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy that there was foul play in Sunanda's death.

Sunanda was found dead in the South Delhi hotel, a day after her twitter spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar over an alleged affair with Tharoor.

In a report to the police, the SDM, who has recorded the statements of Sunanda's brother, son, Tharoor and his staff, had said that no family member suspected any foul play in the death.

The autopsy report had mentioned more than a dozen injury marks on her both hands and an abrasion on her cheek which suggests a "use of blunt force", besides a "deep teeth bite" on the edge of her left palm. Viscera samples were preserved after the autopsy at AIIMS and were sent to CFSL for further tests.