Sunanda Pushkar case: Laptop, cellphones sent for forensic analysis

AHMEDABAD: Delhi Police has handed over the laptop and mobile phones of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's deceased wife Sunanda Pushkar to Gandhinagar-based Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS), to retrieve crucial data which could help the ongoing probe into her death.

After Tharoor was questioned on Monday by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the circumstances leading to the mysterious death of Sunanda a year back, the Delhi Police yesterday handed over her laptop and four mobile phones to DFS for further analysis.

"Officials of Delhi Police came to DFS yesterday and handed over one laptop and four mobile phones, which were used by Pushkar before her death, in a sealed cover," DFS Director J M Vyas said.

"We have been given the task to examine them and extract crucial information to help the ongoing investigation by the police," Vyas said.

"We are not given any time frame to give our final report, but we will do it as soon as possible. DFS is equipped with technology to extract information from such gadgets, even if it is deleted," he said.

"We can find out with whom she was in contact and what kind of communication she had before her death. Such insight can prove crucial for police," he said.

On Monday, Tharoor was questioned for about four hours by the SIT of Delhi Police in connection with Pushkar's mysterious death, nearly three weeks after a case of murder was registered on the basis of a medical report that concluded that she died of poisoning.

Sunanda, 52, was found dead in her suite at Leela Palace hotel in Delhi on January 17 last year, a day after she was involved in a spat with Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar on micro-blogging website Twitter over the latter's alleged affair with Tharoor.