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Did Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan have a role to play in the release of 8 Indians on death row in Qatar?
Speculation over his role was sparked off when senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy tweeted earlier in the day: 'Modi should take Cinema star Sharuk Khan to Qatar with him since after MEA and NSA had failed to persuade the Sheikhs of Qatar, Modi pleaded with Khan to intervene, and thus got an expensive settlement from the Qatar Shiekhs to free our Naval officers.'
Prashant Shah, whose bio on X describes him as a serial entrepreneur, also tweeted: 'SRK personally went to Qatar and pleaded for the release of 8 naval officers directly to the emir of qatar . What a man Where everybody fails , SRK took upon him & ensured release.'
As rumours started flying thick over the superstar’s involvement in the matter, his secretary Pooja Dadlani posted a message on Instagram from SRK’s office scotching the rumours.
In the Instagram post, the actor's office said:
"Regarding the reports concerning Shah Rukh Khan's purported role in the release of India's naval officers from Qatar, the office of Mr Shah Rukh Khan says that any such assertions are unfounded, emphasizing the execution of this successful resolution solely rests with the Indian government officials and unequivocally denies Mr Khan's participation in this matter.
"Additionally, all matters involving diplomacy and statecraft are best executed by our very able leaders. Mr Khan like many other Indians is happy that the naval officers are home safe and wishes them all the best."
Incidentally, Shah Rukh Khan was recently in Doha where he was greeted by Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. The actor was there to attend the AFC Final as a special guest of honour, and this visit led to the flurry of tweets over his involvement in the release of Indian prisoners.