Salman's phone was tapped in 2001: Patil

MUMBAI: Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra R R Patil said in the state assembly on Wednesday that actor Salman Khan's telephone was placed under surveillance by the Mumbai police crime branch in 2001.
Making a statement in the House, Patil said the crime branch police got a tip-off on August 27, 2001 that calls were being made to underworld don Abu Salem from a certain telephone in Mumbai.Accordingly, the phone was placed under surveillance between August 28, 2001 and October 25, 2001. During the stipulated period, the police realised that the telephone connection belonged to Salman.
However, Patil did not elaborate whether the police caught Salman talking to Abu Salem over the telephone during the period of surveillance. Sources said Salman was receiving threats from Abu Salem at that time and he had refused to do the gangster's bidding. In fact, Salman had complained to the police about threats from Abu Salem and was even given police protection.
Reading from a written text, Patil said following reports in a section of the press about the taped talk between Salman and Aishwarya Rai, the crime branch procured an audio-cassette of the "so-called" conversation. A transcript was prepared on the basis of the audio-cassette.
Statements of Salman and Aishwarya were recorded in the course of investigation, he said. In other words, the crime branch doesn't possess the original tapes. However, the home minister did not admit this on the floor of the House.
Stating that the police have taken voice samples of Salman and Aishwarya, Patil said the samples, which have been sent to Chandigarh for analysis, will be compared with the tape which is being relayed by TV channels and the one which BJP leader Gopinath Munde has made available to the state government. This will help the police ascertain the authenticity of the voices of the two actors, he added.
The minister said additional commissioner of police K L Bishnoi and assistant commissioner of police T K Yengde were investigating the matter. Separate investigation will be conducted to check further details of the controversial tape.
The crime branch police are also investigating to find out if there is any link between Salman and the underworld as hinted by the actor during his telephonic talk with Aishwarya.
The minister said the police will solicit legal opinion whether a case could be registered on the basis of the Salman-Aishwarya talk, especially the portion where Salman refers to his links with the underworld.
Reacting to Patil's statement, senior BJP MLA Gopinath Munde claimed that the police did not have the original tape of the controversial conversation.
Urging the state government to hand over the case to the state CID, Munde wanted to know as to why were the police keen on seeking legal opinion before initiating any criminal action against the accused.
Patil assured the House that Mumbai police was competent enough to investigate the matter and that government would not shield those with underworld links.