The financial row of actor Sanjay Dutt and producer Shakeel Noorani took a turn when Dutt’s lawyer alleged on Wednesday that Noorani threatened Dutt through underworld calls in 2005.

 

Dutt’s lawyer Rizwan Merchant said, "Sanjay Dutt does not owe a single penny to Shakeel Noorani. Noorani, in the past, has been demanding money from Sanjay Dutt. Mr. Dutt has received extortion calls at the behest of Shakeel Noorani. The complaint was lodged with the Anti-Extortion Cell and late (senior police inspector) Vijay Salaskar was investigating the case. Statement of Sanjay Dutt has been recorded. Shakeel Noorani was also personally called to the office of the Anti-Extortion Cell."

 

According to Merchant, when Noorani was not successful after threatening Dutt, he went to the Indian Motion Pictures Producers' Association (IMPPA), but it was rejected. He added, "Once a complaint is rejected, a subsequent complaint is barred. The IMPPA could not have passed any award once the first complaint was rejected."

 

However, Noorani has something else to say. He says that all the allegations are false and in fact it is the other way round. He said, "In fact, Sanjay Dutt has threatened to get me shot if I chase him to complete my film. He had personally thrown me out of the set where he was shooting for his film "EMI" when I requested him to finish my film."

 

Noorani added, "It is Sanjay Dutt who has underworld connections. He often met people from the underworld when we went for shooting abroad. I was also never called for questioning by Salaskar. You can check the records if you want."