Chasing Robert De Niro

The police have spent over a month trying to get De Niro to respond in the Tehelka assault case

MUMBAI ~ Since the alleged sexual assault of a colleague by Tehelka founder Tarun Tejpal last year, the police have been investigating and questioning a number of people associated with the case. Some have spoken to the police, while many have provided their statements in front of a judicial magistrate. One important individual associated with the case, however, has eluded the police—Robert De Niro.

The journalist in question was chaperoning De Niro at the Tehelka Think Fest, where De Niro was a guest, when the alleged assault by Tejpal took place.

Crime Branch Inspector Sunita Sawant, who is the investigating officer on the case, says she has been trying to reach De Niro unsuccessfully for over a month. “De Niro’s version of events is important. We want to build a water-tight case and the investigation will benefit from his response. But we’ve just not been able to get him to answer some questions,” she says. According to Sawant, they were first able to get through to De Niro’s attorney, whom she refuses to name, on 7 January. “The attorney had then assured us that De Niro will provide all the necessary cooperation and asked us to email questions,” she says.

The Crime Branch prepared a questionnaire and sent it via email to the actor’s attorney. However, even after a few weeks passed, the cops did not hear from the actor or his attorney. “I understand he’s a busy individual and residing in a different country. So we sent him a reminder a few weeks later,” Sawant says. Even after the reminder, no response was forthcoming. In the meantime, De Niro has been seen travelling to different parts of the globe, either promoting his latest film, Grudge Match, or advancing his businesses. If he was in Manila to announce the launch of the Nobu Hotel one day, he was at the Sundance Film Festival promoting a film on his late father the next.

Sawant says, “Late last month, we finally heard from the attorney. He told us De Niro was out of town and he will reply the moment he returns. Hopefully, he will.”

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Lhendup G Bhutia

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