Mamta Kulkarni’s ‘Dawood Ibrahim did not carry out Mumbai blasts, not a terrorist’ remark sparks controversy; retracts it later: ‘Was referring to Vicky Goswami’

Mamta Kulkarni's comments did not go down well, and many criticised her for the same, following which she issued a clarification that her remarks were misunderstood.

Mamta Kulkarni recently stated that Dawood Ibrahim "did not carry out the Mumbai blasts and is not a terrorist." (Express archive photos)

Mamta Kulkarni has never failed to make headlines. While it was as an actor that she grabbed attention in the ’90s, the 2000s saw her sending shockwaves by quitting the show business at the height of her career. The spotlight found its way to her once again in the 2010s when her name cropped up in a drug haul case. Then, earlier this year, she announced that she had embarked on a spiritual journey, renouncing her worldly life and assuming a new identity as “Mai Mamta Nand Giri.”

Now, Mamta Kulkarni has made headlines yet again, this time by making controversial statements about mob boss and drug lord Dawood Ibrahim – who has been designated a global terrorist by India and the United States – claiming that he “is not a terrorist.” When her comments sparked outrage, she retracted them, hinting that it was a slip of the tongue. Speaking to the media on Tuesday during her three-day spiritual tour to Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, Mamta had claimed that Dawood “did not carry out the Mumbai blasts and is not a terrorist.”

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Notorious for his alleged role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts that killed 257 people and injured 713, Dawood Ibrahim was designated a terrorist in the early 2000s. Hence, Mamta’s comments did not go down well, and many criticised her for the same. On Thursday, she issued a clarification that her remarks were misunderstood. “I was referring to Vicky Goswami, not Dawood Ibrahim. Dawood is indeed a terrorist,” she asserted.

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For the uninitiated, Vicky Goswami is a drug lord and Mamta’s alleged former partner. “I have no connection with politics or the film industry now. I am completely devoted to spirituality. As a staunch follower of Sanatan Dharma, it is impossible for me to have any association with anti-national elements,” news agency PTI quoted her as saying.

Renowned for her roles in movies such as Krantiveer, Karan Arjun, Sabse Bada Khiladi, Andolan, Baazi and Chhupa Rustam, Mamta Kulkarni embraced sanyas earlier this year during the occasion of Maha Kumbh. She was previously named in a case registered in connection with the seizure of illegal drugs worth Rs 2,000 crore in 2016. However, the Bombay High Court quashed the case against her last year.

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