Tharoor alleges police assault on aide to get confession

He had written a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner last year alleging police pressure on his domestic help Narayan Singh

In fresh details emerging on the death of Sunanda Pushkar, her husband and Congress member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor had accused the Delhi Police of “repeatedly physically assaulting” and intimidating his domestic help into “confessing” that they both murdered her.

In a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi on November 12, 2014, he had said “such conduct” by one of the Delhi Police officers against his domestic help Narayan Singh, was completely unacceptable and illegal.

Tharoor said his staff had “co-operated fully” with the police probe.

“I was therefore shocked and appalled to learn that in the course of the 16-hour interrogation conducted by four Delhi Police officers on Friday (7/11/14) and again during the 14-hour interrogation on Saturday (8/11/14), my domestic helper Narayan Singh was repeatedly physically assaulted by one of your officers. Worse, the officer used the traumatic physical assault to try and intimidate Narayan into “confessing” that he and I murdered my wife,” Tharoor said in the letter.

Tharoor also referred to his telephonic conversation with Bassi on November 8 when he had expressed his concerns about the alleged police action.

“As you graciously agreed, such conduct is completely unacceptable and illegal. It also amounts to use of physical coersion in an attempt to frame an innocent man. I would request you to take immediate and appropriate action against such unlawful misconduct of the officer concerned,” he said.

The Delhi Police had on Tuesday registered a murder case into Sunanda’s death under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code on the basis of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences report. The report had concluded her death was unnatural and due to poisoning, but nobody has been named as a suspect yet. The first information report was filed against unknown persons.

Asked about Tharoor’s allegations, Bassi said, “If there is anything of that sort, we will definitely look into it.” He also said, “We have formed a special investigation team to probe the case. It has an action plan and everything will be done according to it,” he said.