Salman Khan will be quizzed by Mumbai police
Bollywood actor Salman Khan has been summoned by the Mumbai Crime Branch for questioning in a case of alleged Bollywood nexus with the underworld, police said Wednesday.
The crime branch will interrogate Salman Wednesday evening in connection with his alleged reduction of his fees in the film “Chori Chori Chupke Chupke”, produced by Nasim Rizvi and financed by Bharat Shah through hawala money sent from abroad by mobster Chhota Shakeel.
Shah and Rizvi have been found guilty in the case.
Meanwhile, Salman, who was scheduled to leave for South Africa for a shoot Wednesday, has cancelled his visit, film industry sources here said.
“We have summoned Salman Khan after his name cropped up during interrogation of another Anjum Adam Phajalani in the Bharat Shah case,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police D.T. Shinde.
Phajalani, an alleged Chhota Shakeel aide, was deported from Dubai on Nov 21 along with nine other gang members and booked under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for his involvement in the Bharat Shah case.
During interrogation, Phajalani had reportedly confessed that Salman had reduced his fees in the film after he had threatened the actor using Shakeel’s name.
Phajalani confessed that he “merely had a causal chat with Salman to make the actor understand why he should work in the film”.
“Salman was also forced to reduce his fees. His standard rate per film at the time of the release of ‘Chori Chori Chupke Chupke’ was about Rs. 40 million and he reportedly worked in the film for Rs.15 million,” said Chief Public Prosecutor Rohini Salian Wednesday.
Phajalani in his statement had also claimed that he and Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt “were good friends”, a senior Crime Branch official told IANS on condition of anonymity.
— IANS
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