1993 victim's son gets death threat
The threats were over the views Mr Deshmukh had voiced on a TV channel.
MUMBAI: The kin of a 1993 bomb blast victim allegedly received a threat call, stating that if he utters a single word against the movie ‘Sanju’ or Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, on whom the movie is based, he will be cut into pieces just like his mother, who was among the 257 deceased victims of the blasts. The complainant, Tushar Deshmukh, approached the Mahim police station and registered a non-cognizable complaint against the unknown accused. The threats were over the views Mr Deshmukh had voiced on a TV channel.
Mr Deshmukh said, “I cried my heart out, and said what is true. After this, I received a threat call, and I immediately registered a non-cognisable complaint against the caller, and gave the said number to the police.”
On Monday morning at 11.46 am, Mr Tushar Deshmukh, who was visiting Hinduja Hospital, received a call from an international number +447537321015, and an unidentified person asked him not to speak ill about the Rajkumar Hirani-directed Bollywood film, ‘Sanju’, starring Ranbir Kapoor, which is based on movie star Sanjay Dutt.
The unidentified caller said in Hindi: “Sanju Baba ke khilaaf kuch bhi bola toh tere maa jaise tukde tere bhi kar denge,” which translates to: “If you say anything against Sanju Baba (Dutt), we will cut you into pieces just like your mother.”
Mr Deshmukh’s mother was one of the victims of the 257 killed after the 1993 blast, where a series of 12 bomb explosions took place in Mumbai on March 12, 1993.
Mr Deshmukh, who earlier approached the Dadar police station, was directed towards the Mahim police station, as the call was received while he was in Hinduja Hospital. When Mr Tushar lodged the complaint, he said that on Monday he was invited by a television news channel to be one of the panelists on a discussion on the movie 'Sanju', where he criticised the portrayal of the actor, which showed him in positive light and that truth had taken a backseat.
The raging controversy
The film directed by ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ fame-Rajkumar Hirani has been facing the flak ever since it hit the theatres last week. The film is said to glorify the image of Sanjay Dutt, who was found in possession of AK-56 rifles during the 1993 riots, and fabricating the truths and facts. According to the film, Sanjay had three AK-56 rifles and bullets without a license for the protection of his father and sisters during 1993 Mumbai riots. But the film has chosen to portray only parts of it. The filmmakers also smartly portrayed Sanjay as a victim of “biased” media reporting, and all the crimes committed by the actor as childish.