Bharat Shah case: Sanjay to depose
as witness

Film actor Sanjay Dutt would depose before a special court on Monday, February 11, as a prosecution witness in the case of the alleged nexus between Bollywood and the underworld, police sources said on Wednesday.

Police have also recorded Dutt's statement on Tuesday regarding his alleged conversation with Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel from a five star hotel in Nasik on November 14, 2000.

Police obtained a sample of Dutt's voice to match with the one appearing in the alleged conversation with Shakeel.

Dutt reportedly admitted before police officers about his halt at the Nasik hotel on way to Shirdi on November 14, 2000. He also confirmed that producer Sanjay Gupta, financier Harish Sughand and actor-director Mahesh Manjrekar were present during that time.

Dutt, however, said he did not remember the alleged telephonic talk with Shakeel. Police had intercepted the conversation and produced the recorded telephonic talk before a special court.

Gupta, Manjrekar and Sughand turned hostile in the court denying that they had spoken with Shakeel although their sample voices matched with the ones in the alleged conversation.

When the conversation was played in the court, Sughand admitted that the alleged voices were that of Dutt, Gupta and Manjrekar. He also confirmed his own voice.