Director Sanjay Gupta and Ekta Kapoor’s production house were booked on Thursday for allegedly forging the letterhead of the Mumbai Police Commissioner’s office for promotion of their film.
The Versova police said Gupta and Balaji Motion Pictures allegedly used the letterhead of the city police commissioner to send invitations for a press conference for their upcoming movie Shootout at Wadala, that was held on Wednesday evening at Mehboob Studio in Bandra (West).
Nandkumar Mhetar, senior inspector of Versova police station, said the police had booked Gupta, Balaji Motion Pictures and Bollywood movie-portal Glamsham.com for forgery and cheating as they allegedly made use of the rubber stamp of the Mumbai Police Commissioner’s office. “The invitation cards printed by the production house contains the rubber stamp and says that the Mumbai Police Commissioner will be present there and conduct a press conference regarding the present status of crime in the city,” said Mhetar.
The accused were booked under Sections 417 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record.), 474 ( having possession of document described in Section 466 or 467, knowing it to be forged and intending to use it as genuine) of the IPC and 68 of the IT Act.
“We will arrest the accused and produce them before the court. We have registered a case in Versova as Gupta’s office falls under our jurisdiction,” said Mhetar.
Shootout at Wadala is based on the first recorded encounter by the Mumbai Police, in which gangster Manya Surve was killed at Wadala in the 1990s.
The press invite has a subject that reads – “Briefing on the current crime scenario in Bombay”. It goes on to state – “This is to inform you that the Commissioner of Police requests your presence on the 29th of February at 3.15 pm on stage No 2 of Mehboob Studio to address the sudden and dangerous rise of organised crime in the city.”
Mhetar said the invitation had the Bombay Police stamp with the national emblem. It also had a signature under the name Parull Gossain from “the Commissioner’s office, Bandra Police station, Krishna Chandra Marg, Bandra (West), Bombay 400050”.
Responding to the charges, Gupta said, “I am not aware of this and as far as we are concerned, it was nothing more than an innovative and creative marketing thing. It was an invitation sent only to the media and not to the public. In any case, the summons-style invitation has a disclaimer stating that this is not a real summons and is purely for publicity and promotional purposes.”
When contacted, Kapoor said, “The matter is sub judice. I cannot talk about it.”
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