Mobile phone in active mode, police probe is on

The mobile phone number from which a threatening SMS was sent to Minister of State Shashi Tharoor’s aide was found to be in “switched on” mode on Thursday and had the police grappling to locate the user.

The mobile phone number from which a threatening SMS was sent to Minister of State Shashi Tharoor’s aide was found to be in “switched on” mode on Thursday and had the police grappling to locate the user.

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Police said one more mobile number was used to send a threatening message to Rajya Sabha MP Masood Madani, which was reportedly sent by the same person.

The number (9210783038), sources said, was active in the central west Delhi area and the police were taking the help of security agencies, including the Special Cell, to locate it.

“We have managed to zero down on the area where it is in use. It is a tedious process as house-to-house search is not possible. We are taking the help of the mobile phone company to locate the user. The phone is in a switched on mode but no one is taking calls,” said a senior police officer.

The Tata Indicom number that has been procured on the stolen identification papers of a gym trainer, Manik Verma, was used to send more than 40 lewd and objectionable SMSes to Tharoor, Madani and CPI(M)’s Brinda Karat, police said. Verma told the police that the number was purchased on his driving license that was stolen eight years ago. Police ruled out the involvement of an underworld gangster behind the incident. The police said they had not found anything which links Verma to sending the threatening message. “Though we are not ruling out anything, but the role of an underworld gangster is far-fetched. It seems to be a prank,” said a senior police officer.