Govt to meet film industry members on threats — Bhujbal

Roshan, he said, took pains to trace the caller with the help of his cellphone company, but did not care to inform the Mumbai police. He further said the Mumbai police had provided Roshan with security last year, but the film producer returned it without citing reasons. The police has collected vital clues in the case and action would soon be taken, Bhujbal added.

According to the Deputy Chief Minister, 34 film personalities enjoyed State police security cover. Some of them had it on the basis of threats percieved by the police, while others had been provided it on request. Some film personalities like Shahrukh Khan and producer Subhash Ghai had returned their security cover, Bhujbal said.

He lamented that film personalities, who earned fortunes, adopted a "miserly approach" when it came to payment of dues for security provided to them. A number of film personalities had defaulted in payment, Bhujbal said, adding film star Shahrukh Khan was one of them.

The State police, however, was gearing up to face the challenge posed by the underworld and the latest gadgets were being acquired, Bhujbal said, but refused to elaborate.

Bhujbal said it was alarmed by the inroads made by the ISI in the state capital, as indicated by the arrest of some ISI agents in Mumbai. The State Police has accorded top priority to pin down these activities, he said. The Mumbai Police has been asked to develop its own intelligence network down to the level of police stations, since it was not the sole responsibility of the intelligence department to give a feedback on these activities, Bhujbal said.

Commenting on the disclosure that some of the hijackers of the Indian Airlines Airbus had secured fake passports from Mumbai, Bhujbal said that A probe was on in the case and police officials found guilty will not be spared.

Replying to a question, Bhujbal also justified the much-publicised transfer of Director General of Police, Arvind Inamdar and said that there was no discord between him and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on this issue.

Earlier, Bhujbal said that in the regime of the Sena-BJP government, the bureaucracy was subjected to severe political pressures. Some of the members succumbed to the pressures, while others who did not were given a shabby treatment. The state’s bureaucracy, which once was deemed as the best, is now in shambles, he said. Bhujbal said fresh attempts are being made to restore the lost glory, but said it would take time to undo the damage done in four and half years.

The developmental projects launched by the previous government face the same fate. A number of them are pending due to resource crunch. However, the state government would complete a few of them on which already a lot of money has been spent.

The Deputy Chief Minister further said that the State Government was making all attempts to create a congennial atmosphere to attract investement in the state and to stop industries leaving the state. The fast clearance given to the `Scoda’ car project was one such attempt, he said.

At the outset, NUWJ President T.B.Golhar welcomed the guest, while Secretary Baban Walke proposed a vote of thanks.