Sources said Sunanda, in her forties, had a 13-year-old son from her first husband and ran a spa in Dubai, where she also held an executive’s post with an infrastructure company owned by the emirate’s government.

Earlier, she had worked with an advertising firm called Buzell and a travel agency in Dubai, and even for an IT company in Toronto, in between trying her hand at event management, sources said.

Sunanda’s friends said she had married Sujit Menon, a dealer in fire-fighting equipment. The couple shifted to Dubai, where Sujit organised a Malayalam superstar’s “nite” that turned out to be a financial disaster for him.

A disillusioned Sujit returned home to Kerala alone and later met a tragic end in Delhi. Sunanda moved to Toronto for a while.

Earlier, she had worked with an advertising firm called Buzell and a travel agency in Dubai, and even for an IT company in Toronto, in between trying her hand at event management, sources said.

Tharoor has a Dubai link too. In 2007, he became chairman of the Dubai-based Afras Ventures. He gave up the post before contesting the polls.