Actor Mamta Kulkarni's role in hubby's drug ring under scanner

April 28, 2016

Mumbai, Apr 28: The Thane police, which seized 20 tonnes of ephedrine in a record haul this month, is investigating reports that actor Mamta Kulkarni is a central figure in the international drug ring that tried to smuggle in the contraband.

MamtaThe development came as investigators revealed on Wednesday that Mamta's Kenya-based husband, Vicky Goswami, was the kingpin of the drug operation.

Vicky has a well-known history of serious drug offences. In 1997, he was arrested for drug trafficking in Dubai and served 15 years in a prison there. He later moved with Mamta to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, where he is currently facing fresh charges. He is wanted by the US and the Thane police for drug offences. "This is an international racket and Vicky Goswami is the main link to it. As for Mamta Kulkarni, we are probing her role," Thane police commissioner Parambir Singh said, referring to the ephedrine haul.

Vicky was named as the prime suspect after the police received information about his operations from the United States' Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) on Tuesday.

Mamta, who is believed to be in Kenya currently, featured in several Bollywood movies in the 1990s, including the Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Karan Arjun. While senior Thane officers did not divulge details about her role in her husband's drug syndicate, sources in the police said she was the face of the ring.

As Vicky cannot leave Kenya because of an Interpol notice against him, he asked Mamta to meet clients in Dubai, Singapore, South Africa and the US, said a Thane police officer, who didn't want to be named.

Mamta allegedly also struck business deals with drug networks in Maharashtra, and Vicky used her name to carry out bank transactions. The couple allegedly also routed huge sums from drug deals through the hawala channel.

Mamta apparently never came under the authorities' scanner until now. Meanwhile, the Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested one Punit Shringi, who was allegedly the main link between Vicky and drug cartels in Mumbai and Thane.Shringi has reportedly revealed that Manoj Jain, a director of a firm called, was also involved and had met Vicky several times in Kenya.

The 20 tonnes of ephedrine was seized from a Solapur factory earlier this month. According to the Thane police, gangs in India, Poland and some other European countries had planned to send the consignment to Eastern Europe from Mumbai via Gujarat.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Chennai, Jan 15: Superstar Rajinikanth on Tuesday called for neutrality in journalism and urged media outlets to report the truth.

Addressing an event organised by Tamil magazine ''Thuglak' in Chennai, the superstar-turned-politician said that the country needs a journalist like the late Cho S Ramaswamy, who helmed the publication for decades.

"The times, politics and society are going bad. In such a scenario, the media had a huge responsibility towards the people," he said.

Some television channels are biased towards political parties, Rajinikanth said. He added that media, critics and journalists must report the truth impartially.

Comparing true news to milk and fake reportage to water, Rajinikanth said people will not be able to distinguish between the two if they are mixed.

"Only journalists need to tell which portion is milk and which is water...write the truth and don't make a lie seem like truth," he said, amid applause.

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News Network
June 8,2020

Jun 8: The Shiv Sena has sought to take a different stand on Bollywood actor Sonu Sood’s help in ferrying migrants back home in the midst of the nationwide lockdown induced by the coronavirus pandemic. On Sunday evening, the actor met Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at his residence ‘Matoshree’. The CM’s son and Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray and MLA Aslam Shaikh were also present during the meeting.

Sonu Sood’s visit to the Shiv Sena supremo’s residence came after Sanjay Raut, one of the most vocal leaders of the party, criticised the actor and sought to draw a BJP link to his help to migrants in order to show the ruling dispensation in poor light.

“Sood is an actor whose profession is to deliver dialogues scripted by someone else and make a living out of it. There are many people like Sood who would promote any political party if paid well,” Raut wrote in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna.

Referring to the actor’s help to migrants, Raut wondered if the sudden generosity of “Mahatma” Sood in Mumbai was at BJP’s behest and said that he would “soon meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and become the celebrity manager of Mumbai.”

As Raut’s remarks fuelled a controversy in political circles, Aaditya Thackeray tweeted in praise of Sood in an apparent attempt to distance the party and its leadership from the leader’s remarks.

“This evening Sonu Sood met up with Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray ji along with Minister Aslam Shaikh ji and me. Better Together, Stronger Together to assist as many people through as many people. Good to have met a good soul to work for the people together.”

“The CM was glad to meet Sonu Sood and discussed the work everyone is doing for the people during covid relief. Misunderstandings don’t exist but what does is a commitment to help people,” Aaditya tweeted.

Sonu Sood too sought to downplay Raut’s remarks and expressed gratitude to all political parties for having supported him. “They (Shiv Sena) are also supporting it and it’s not about any particular party. We have to support all the people who are suffering. Every party from Kashmir to Kanya Kumari has supported me,” the actor told reporters after his meeting with the Chief Minister.

Sonu Sood has earned immense praise for providing help to stranded migrant workers during the Covid-19 lockdown. He has launched a helpline for migrants and has helped hundreds of migrants return to their native places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Karnataka.

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News Network
May 26,2020

Washington, May 26: Making a slight change to the name of their newborn, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his singer girlfriend Grimes have now named their first child X AE A-Xii.

The difference is only in the numeral part of the name which is now written in the Roman format.

Earlier this month, the celebrity couple hogged headlines for naming their son X AE A-12.

The change in the name came when an Instagram follower of the Canadian singer asked if she had considered changing the name of the child and she replied with, "X AE A-Xii."

However, the performer didn't provide further insight concerning the reason behind the change.

Canadian singer Grimes gave birth to her first child on May 4.

The 32-year-old had earlier taken to Twitter and explained the meaning of the baby's name.  

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