Death threat for Tharoor? Police say they have no clue

In a new twist to the IPL-Shashi Tharoor story, a threatening SMS was sent to the personal secretary of Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs, on Tuesday that left the security agencies in a tizzy.

In a new twist to the IPL-Shashi Tharoor story, a threatening SMS was sent to the personal secretary of Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs, on Tuesday that left the security agencies in a tizzy.

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According to the police, the SMS reportedly asked Tharoor to back out of the IPL and apologise to Lalit Modi or else face the ‘dire consequences’.

Though the Delhi Police maintained that they have not received any complaint, a team from Tughlak Road police station visited Tharoor’s residence in the afternoon.

Joint Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, Dharmendra Kumar said, “We have not registered any case till now in the matter and no arrests have been made.”

However, in what might just be a coincidence, the police have detained a boxing trainer at the Constitution Club at Rafi Marg identified as Manik Verma , on allegations of sending malicious messages to political leaders including Brinda Karat and a Rajya Sabha MP regarding which a complaint was lodged at Mandir Marg station.

Verma claimed that he lost his driving license eight years ago and someone was using it identity proof to buy SIM cards. He even lodged a complaint in this regard at the Tilak Nagar police station.

The police said they have so far not found anything that links Verma to sending the threatening message to Tharoor’s personal secretary. Additional Commissioner of Police, New Delhi district, Shankar Dash said, “Verma has been detained in connection with a different matter. He claims that his identity is being allegedly used by someone to send messages.”

Dash added that the Tharoor case has been transferred to the Delhi Police’s Special Cell and they would investigate the matter. The SMS, which was sent to Tharoor’s personal secretary’s mobile number reportedly says, ‘Apologize Lalit Modi or face consequences’.