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Even as investigations go on a feverish pace on the high profile murder of Sunanda Pushkar, the wife of the former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, Newsmobile has accessed documents that reveal Pushkar had assets to the tune of over 100 crores.
In the past year, the media has been rife with rumours, allegations and counter-allegations on who may have been responsible for her death. From an unconfirmed cause of death to the filing of multiple autopsy reports, the case has only gotten murkier over the past year.
However, one aspect that has not been discussed is the total assets owned and controlled by Pushkar.
Sunanda Pushkar declared her assets when her husband Shashi Tharoor was running for the state assembly elections in Kerala.
In the affidavit, Sunanda Pushkar has declared assets to the tune of 100 crore, all of which she declared to have earned before she came to India.
She owned 12 flats in Dubai worth around Rs. 93 crore and also a house in Ontario in Canada, which is worth around Rs3.5 crore as per official records.
Shiv Menon, her son from second husband, lives in one of the Dubai flats. Shashi Tharoor and Sunanda, as per the law, have filed their annual asset declaration statements on 31st January 2013, which also mentions her shares, deposits and cash in various currencies valuing to around Rs seven crores.
In tandem with her exquisite style, Sunanda inherited a collection of antique shahtoosh shawls from her grandmother worth around Rs30 lakh.
She has also kept an antique armour and a Humayuni sword from Mughal Emperor Humayun’s era in a storage in Canada, the value of which is unknown.
In absence of a formal will it is to be seen who will inherit her property. “As far as I know, she has not left any will. If that would have been the case, we would have known that,†said her close friend. Sunanda, known for her style and fashion sense also had jewellery worth around Rs. two crore in lockers in Dubai, besides an exotic collection of 25 foreign watches worth around Rs. five crore.
At her native place in north Kashmir, Sunanda, owns land worth Rs 12 lakh and had purchased two cars worth Rs five lakh and Rs nine lakh in Dubai and Delhi respectively. She had clarified that she is not involved in any businesses, but occasionally practiced as real estate consultant in the UAE, which remained her place of domicile.
In April 2010, she is said to have received seat equity to the tune of Rs. 75 crore in the Indian Premier League team representing Kochi, which she surrendered but not before asserting the fact that she was a businesswoman and entitled to do business.
While neither her son nor her husband have yet come forward to claim their stake in her property, many theories have emerged amongst the authorities investigating her alleged murder that her property maybe one of the reasons she may have been murdered.