Mumbai, September 19
A confession by an arrested gangster on television is likely to prove uncomfortable for actor Hrithik Roshan.
Gangster Iqbal Attarwala who was extradited to India earlier this month is said to have named the actor in his confession to the Mumbai police. Attarwala, an associate of Dawood Ibrahim, used to organise shows with prominent Bollywood personalities.
Attarwala’s company Show Blitz was a prominent show organiser in West Asia.
Though the police say the gangster has named some cricketers as well, only the name of Hrithik Roshan has come out so far.
Hrithik Roshan and his father Rakesh have had a run-in with the Dawood gang in the year 2000 following the release of the former’s debut film ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’. Abu Salem, then with the Dawood gang, had allegedly ordered Rakesh Roshan who produced the movie to part with its international rights. The elder Roshan was shot at by the underworld to put pressure on the duo.
The police suspects that the Roshans struck a compromise with the mafia shortly afterwards following which Hrithik Roshan agreed to perform at shows organised by the Dawood gang.
Investigators are now looking at Attarwala’s cricket angle as well.
His company is said to have organised some exhibition matches featuring Indian cricketers in Dubai. Some of the matches were organised as late as April this year.
