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Govt to probe Salman threat to Aishwarya
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, July 14
Taking a break from the wrangles within its own ranks, the Shiv Sena and its ally the BJP today demanded a probe into the alleged claims by actor Salman Khan that he was linked with the underworld.

Both parties joined hands to demand a statement from the government after the inaugural issue of a newspaper carried transcripts of, what it called, phone taps of Salman threatening Aishwarya Rai for not participating in a show organised by mobster Abu Salem. According to the report, Salman made the threat to Rai in August 2001 even though he knew that the police was tapping his phone following the controversy over the film “Chori Chori Chupke Chupke”.

Shiv Sena and BJP legislators created a pandemonium in the House over the report. “We want to know why the police didn’t take any action in this case all this while despite recording the phone conversation in 2001,” BJP leader Gopinath Munde asked. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh assured the Opposition that the police was looking into the matter. He promised that information on this would be tabled in the Assembly.

Senior police officials also said they were probing the veracity of the tape. “We are checking to see if the tapes were from our files,” DCP Dhananjay Kamalakar said.

The phones of prominent Bollywood personalities, including financier and diamond merchant Bharat Shah, Nazim Rizvi, producer of “Chori Chori Chupke Chupke”, Salman and several others were tapped after the police received information that gangster Chotta Shakeel had financed the movie.

Subsequently, Salman Khan and co-stars Rani Mukerjee and Priety Zinta were among others questioned by the police for their links with the underworld.

In the transcripts published today, Salman is allegedly seen threatening Aishwarya into participating in Abu Salem’s show in Dubai. Salman, who was in a relationship with her, allegedly claims to have promised that he would get her to perform there. In the transcripts, Aiswarya is seen refusing, after which she and her relatives were threatened with physical harm. “You know I can do it. After all, everybody from Dawood Ibrahim to Guru Satam is a friend,” Salman allegedly says in the tape. Both actors are also heard trading swear words in the tapes. The report also quotes Salman as saying that he was forced to work in “Chori Chori Chupke Chupke” by the underworld.

After television channels played the tapes, Salman’s lawyers denied that they were genuine. His counsel said the report “was completely fabricated. If the police had the cassette four years ago, it would have taken action against Salman then,” he said, adding that the voice was not Salaman’s.