This Article is From May 26, 2010

Stolen gun belonged to Rakhee, Gulzar not Sawant

Mumbai:
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After seeing MiD DAY's report on the Rakhi Sawant gun controversy on Tuesday, veteran actress Rakhee Gulzar telephoned the paper to say that the Italian 8 mm pistol, which two arrested UP criminals claimed was Rakhi's, actually belonged to her. (Read:UP criminals held with gun allegedly stolen from Rakhi Swant).

Rakhee claims it wasn't a real pistol as presumed by the UP police, but a fake one.

She said the dummy pistol, along with other valuables worth Rs 7 lakh, was stolen from her Bandra residence in January and neither she nor the Bandra police had any clue who the people behind the theft were.

"The pistol looked like a real one, I even used it for a film shoot. It was a gift from Salim Khan (Salman Khan's father)," said Rakhee.

Speaking about the theft, she said, "The valuables were secondary. I was always keen to know who the people behind the theft were, and, till we read MiD DAY, there was no news about the culprits."

Rakhee now wants the Bandra police to get the accused, Keshav Pandey and Chandrakant Mishra , transferred to Mumbai for interrogation.

Meanwhile, Assistant Police Inspector Anil Bhadgujar of Bandra police station, who is investigating the case, said, "She (Rakhee) did not mention any gun in her complaint to us. We will get in touch with the UP police and seek custody of the arrested accused. We will probe the case from all angles. Also, we will record Rakhee's statement again."

When Rakhee was asked whether she had mentioned the gun, she said, "I had told the police about it when they visited my house to inspect the crime scene. I even showed them the gun's case. They should have shown seriousness in nabbing the people responsible for the theft, but now, thanks to MiD DAY and the similarities in the name, the police can get down to the facts of my case."
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