New Delhi, April 14 (IANS) A man was Wednesday detained by the police here on the suspicion of sending an SMS threat to Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor, police sources said.
"We have picked up Manik Verma from west Delhi for questioning. He has not yet been arrested," a police source told IANS.
The source said the police have not received any official complaint from the minister.
"Tharoor has not approached us with any complaint. We are making investigations on our own," said the source.
Earlier in the day, officials from the Tughlak Road police station went to the minister's Lodhi Estate residence and spent about an hour there to probe the SMS threat.
"We (came) to inquire SMS threats to the minister after seeing reports in the media. We were not called by the minister," a team member told reporters.
Police said no case has been registered. Officials of Delhi Police's Special Cell also visited Tharoor's residence in the evening.
Jacob Joseph, the officer on special duty with the minister, told reporters that Tharoor had received the SMS threat and the home ministry and police have been alerted.
He did not reveal the SMS content.
Tharoor is caught in a row with Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi after Modi accused him of telling him not to reveal the ownership pattern of the IPL Kochi franchise. Tharoor has denied the charge.
Earlier:
Tharoor's Security Tightened after SMS Death Threat
New Delhi, Apr 14 (Agencies): Minister of state for external affairs Shahshi Tharoor's security has been tightened following an SMS death threat received by him from Mumbai.
The SMS is said to be from Chhota Shakeel of the notorious D Company.
In the SMS, Tharoor was asked to apologize to Indian Premier League (IPL) commissioner Lalit Modi over the Kochi IPL team standoff.
Tharoor has reportedly written to the home ministry about the death threat, following which his security has been tightened.
Tharoor is reportedly in trouble after IPL commissioner Lalit Modi tweeted to reveal that Sunanda Pushkar, a close associate of Tharoor, had been gifted equity worth 70 crore in the new Kochi team which was sold for 1530 crore last month.
Modi in his email to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief Shashank Manohar had stated it was Tharoor who called him and instructed him not to reveal the identities of the stakeholders of the Kochi IPL franchisee.
In tweets on Monday, Modi has accused Tharoor of asking him not to investigate who makes up the Rendezvous Sports World group that led the consortium that bought the Kochi team.
Modi also revealed the details of the different partners and their stake in the Kochi team.
Tharoor, however, has denied pressurizing Modi.