Salman tapes were doctored, say Mumbai cops

The voice on the tapes is not that of actor Salman Khan. Nor is he speaking to Aishwarya Rai. That’s what the Mumbai police said today ...

The voice on the tapes is not that of actor Salman Khan. Nor is he speaking to Aishwarya Rai. That’s what the Mumbai police said today about the controversial audio tapes that put the Bollywood star under harsh media scrutiny for his alleged links with the Mumbai underworld.

The tapes were doctored and the voices of the actors were morphed and some dubbing took place, said Mumbai Commissioner of Police, A N Roy. ‘‘I am ordering a high-level probe to find out who had doctored them and from where they were procured,’’ he added.

The police chief’s statement was based on a report from technical experts at the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL), Chandigarh, who found that the voice samples of the actors recorded in July did not match those on the four-year-old tapes. The CFSL results reached the police on Wednesday.

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The tapes of the telephonic conversation, the transcripts of which first appeared in a local newspaper and were later played by TV channels, carried a voice, allegedly that of an inebriated Salman, intimidating a woman, supposedly Aishwarya, to perform at an entertainment programme organised by fugitive gangster Abu Salem.

The caller boasted of his links with underworld figures Dawood Ibrahim, Chota Shakeel and Guru Satam, and claimed that he had advance information about the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993.

Following media reports in mid-July about the existence of these tapes, from phone-taps allegedly done by the police, BJP leader Gopinath Munde raised a question in the Maharashtra Assembly and demanded a probe.

Elaborating on the CFSL findings, K L Bishnoi, Additional Commissioner of Police (Economics Offences Wing), said: ‘‘A detailed report on the findings will be sent to the Home Ministry.”

‘At last, I’m happy today’

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MUMBAI: Salman Khan, who is currently in New York shooting for Shirish Kunder’s Jaan-e-man, was not available for comment. However, his lawyer Dipesh Mehta said: ‘‘The results only show what we have been saying from day one. It did not come as a surprise to us.’’

Salman’s assistant, Nadim, spoke on behalf of his family: ‘‘I called him up and broke the news to him. He was silent for a moment and then said, ‘At last. I’m happy today’.’’

Nadim also said that the family feels vindicated. ‘‘We kept on shouting from rooftops that he is innocent but nobody believed us. They even stopped our movie Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya on the day of its release but the film is a hit. Nobody can stop the truth,’’ said Nadim.

Aishwarya was not available for comment either. She’s in Tunisia for a Hollywood film The Last Legion. Her manager, Hari Singh said, ‘‘I am not sure is she knows about it. Her family is down South.” — ENS