Rape accused's act at police function, a mistake?

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According to a DNA report, Mumbai's Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria has admitted that allowing rape-accused Ankit Tiwari to perform at the Umang festival was a mistake. The Commissioner of Police has been quoted in the report as saying that it was a mistake that happened inadvertently. He has reportedly said that the event was organised by event organisers and despite instructions to not include any controversial names, playback singer Ankit Tiwari performed on stage. However, he has also been quoted as saying that the singer's performance was interrupted when they realised their mistake. The singer was arrested last May for allegedly raping his girlfriend on several occasions, after promising to marry her. His brother had also been arrested for allegedly threatening the victim with dire consequences if she made the sexual assault public. Ankit was booked under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, while his brother was charged with criminal intimidation. Both are currently out on bail.

Let's take a look at some other controversies that celebs found themselves embroiled in...

Bollywood celebrities mired in controversies

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According to a report on Ndtv.com, the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) says that actress Kareena Kapoor Khan can sue if she has objections to her morphed photo that has been used by the women's wing of the organization to warn against 'love jihad.' "If actress Kareena Kapoor has a problem with this, the doors of Court are always open for her," the report quoted Prakash Sharma of VHP, attributing the comment to news agency ANI. The picture of Kareena, which is doing the rounds on Twitter, shows the face of Kareena, half covered with a niqab, and the other half obscuring a bindi on her forehead and sindoor in her hair. According to a Pinkvilla.com report, at a promotional event of Tevar, Arjun Kapoor said that people of India have a right to an opinion as India is a democratic country, adding that one cannot enforce anything on anyone. He said that Kareena has been allowed to sue them if she likes, is what he read, states the report. (Image courtesy: Zoom TV's Twitter account)

Bollywood celebrities mired in controversies

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According to a Mumbai Mirror report, Jacqueline Fernandez has spoken in support of Salman Khan after his controversial Sri Lanka visit during which he campaigned for the country's incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and was branded a 'traitor' by Tamil leader Vaiko in India. Pictures of Salman Khan and his Kick leading lady, Jacqueline with Mahinda Rajapaksa went viral online. Across the border this was seen as a last-ditch effort by the President to boost his prospects in the upcoming elections scheduled for January 8, states the report. Inviting the ire of Tamil parties, DMK and MDMK, Salman was dubbed as a "betrayer" and a "traitor" following the 'special appearance,' the report further states. Talking up for the actor, Jacqueline said that it was she who insisted that Salman extend the efforts of his Being Human charity to parts of her home country too, states Mirror. The report quoted Jacqueline as saying, "That was the main purpose of this visit. Salman donated 200 lenses to facilitate cataract operations in certain under-privileged areas.He also donated money. It bothers me that people can't see the good in any initiative. All they want to do is identify an ulterior agenda behind every good cause," According to the report, when asked further about the campaign, Jacqueline retorted, "Salman is an individual in his own right who knows both Rajapaksa and his son Namal well. If he wants to drum up support for Rajapaksa that's his choice and nobody can question it."

Bollywood celebrities mired in controversies

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Reportedly, the yesteryear actress was caught in a drug raid in Kenya, as reported in Mumbai Mirror. According to a report on mumbaimirror.com, sources revealed that the drug bust in Kenya, following which Vivek Goswami, husband of yesteryear actress Mamta Kulkarni was arrested, was made after a tip-off from gangster Dawood Ibrahim. The Mumbai police officials said that they received the crucial information that Kenya police got tipped off by Dawood himself. Apart from Goswami, his close friend and partner in the narcotic business, Barkat Akaash, and Pakistani drug lord Gulam Husain were also arrested, the report states. According to the police, Dawood and company stumbled upon Akaash and his brother who were looking for Goswami. They could not trace Goswami, but took a chance as they were sure that once the cops arrest Akaash, Goswami wouldn't be far from reach. Accordingly, they tipped off the Kenya police who passed on the information to the United States drug enforcement unit. In a joint operation, the traffickers were picked up. Though Mamta Kulkarni was present with her husband at the time of his arrest, she was detained only for questioning, concludes the report.

Bollywood celebrities mired in controversies

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In an interview to Mumbai Mirror, photographer Jayesh Sheth talks about the former Bollywood star and the infamous photo shoot where she posed topless for a magazine cover. The photographer revealed that when most A-list actresses in B-town refused to do this shoot, Mamta had agreed. "I suggested Mamta's name, pointing out her innocent face and sexy body," reminisces Jayesh. Adding, "It was a shortcut to success. Mamta was soon competing with another promising contender, Divya Bharti." Jayesh further stated in his interview to Mumbai Mirror that this shoot had made Mamta an overnight star and fetching her films with top heroes of the time - from Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan to Govinda. "The last time we met, she told me she wanted to get filthy rich." Mamta Kulkarni is said to have briefly disappeared, only to return with Rajkumar Santoshi's Ghatak. Further to reports in Mumbai Mirror, she later got embroiled in a controversy with Tinu Verma and vanished again for two years. "Then one fine day she was back in my studio, wanting to do a photo shoot. I could see she was not in good shape, physically, and it was her do-or-die attempt. While at my studio she got a call from Dubai. After putting the phone down, she told me she planned to go abroad and get filthy rich. That was the last conversation we had, back in 1996," said Jayesh.There were also rumours that Mamta had gone insane and had settled in Dubai. Some reports suggested that she had become a sanyasin. Now, the photographer is penning the script for his film which is about a struggling actress who makes it big and then disappears from the screen. "That's the subject of my second film and the protagonist has definitely been inspired by Mamta Kulkarni. I was just putting the finishing touches to the script when I heard that she has been traced to Kenya," says Jayesh. "I was shocked but not really surprised. But now, given this fresh twist in her story, I'll have to make some changes in the climax of my film," concludes the photographer.
Here's a look at some other celebs including Mamta Kulkarni who have been embroiled in controversies.

Bollywood celebrities mired in controversies

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With the news doing the rounds that yesteryear actress Mamta Kulkarni was arrested, the media went crazy. Mamta was reportedly taken into custody by the Kenyan police along with husband Vijay 'Vicky' Goswami, on charges of drug trafficking. But according to Mumbai Mirror, that while her husband has indeed been arrested after a major drug bust undertaken by the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the National Police Service of Kenya, Mamta was not detained. Citing a leading Kenyan daily, the Mumbai Mirror report says that the suspects were picked up in Nyali, Mombasa, at the residence of Baktash and Ibrahim Abdalla. The two Kenyan nationals were arrested, along with Goswami and another Indian national, Kulam Hussein. The head of the unit investigating the case, Hamisi Massa, told the local press that the 'suspects are liable to charges of conspiracy to traffic narcotic drugs in the US and Kenya and if found guilty, will attract severe penalties.' Cliff Ombeta, the lawyer representing the accused, including Goswami, admitted that Mamta was present in the house during the raid, but said that she was not arrested or detained. Speaking from Mombosa, he told Mirror, "The lady was present in the house in Nyali when the police raided it. But no drugs were found there. The police arrested the Abdalla brothers, Vijay Goswami and Kulam Hussein based on an earlier raid in Nairobi. They will be in police custody for 14 days." He added, "The US agencies want to extradite them so the trial can take place in a New York court. We will strongly oppose that." Mirror tried to reach the Kenyan Director of Public Prosecutions to verify the lawyer's claim, but they chose not to comment. When Mirror asked if Mamta can be jailed, considering that she is Goswami's wife, Ombeta asserted, "She has nothing to do with the offence. Therefore, she wasn't taken to the police station. She is in her house and absolutely free."

Bollywood celebrities mired in controversies

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Gossip mongers got a lot to discuss when Jaya Bachchan recently tagged her son Abhishek Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan-starrer blockbuster Happy New Year a nonsensical film. To add to this, a recent article in Asian Age says that Shah Rukh Khan retorted to Jaya Bachchan's comment saying that even Amitabh Bachchan's cult film Amar Akbar Anthony was considered a nonsensical film at that time.
Bachchans and Shah Rukh Khan have always shared a great bonding and Jaya considers SRK as her son. Jaya is known to speak her mind and according to the article in Asian Age, Jaya Bachchan had expressed her opinion about Happy New Year personally to Shah Rukh as well. To this, he coolly reminded her that Mr Bachchan's Amar Akbar Anthony was also considered nonsensical in its time. There is no ill will between them over this comment, the article further states.
But apart from this drama, there were also reports in media saying that Mr Bachchan has sent a text message to King Khan apologising for Jaya's comment. However industry insiders who closely know Shah Rukh Khan and the Bachchan family say that nothing of this sort has happened and things are unnecessarily being blown out of proportion.

Bollywood celebrities mired in controversies

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Swastika Mukherjee, who is all set to make her Bollywood debut opposite Sushant Singh Rajput in Detective Byomkesh Bakshi, was recently accused of shoplifting at a boutique shop in Singapore. According to a report in mid-day, Swastika was in Singapore to attend Darpan Film Festival along with her boyfriend Suman Mukherjee and she allegedly lifted earrings worth US$225 from a boutique. Her film's director Dibakar Banerjee does not feel that the controversy will mar the prospects of his film. He is confident about Detective Byomkesh Bakshi and is in fact worried about Swastika's reputation. He feels it is a very unfortunate incident and is concerned about the actress. Dibakar Banerjee says, "I don't think anything can go against the film. So I don't think we should think about that. Rather, we should worry about the incident and the reputation of the actor. This incident is unfortunate and I hope it gets resolved amicably as soon as possible."