By IANS,
Mumbai : Bollywood actor Emraan Hashmi’s attempt to buy a flat took a curious turn Sunday with a Mumbai social worker accusing him and director Mahesh Bhatt of “fomenting communal tensions to gain cheap publicity”.
The development came while Mumbai Police are still investigating Hashmi’s complaint of alleged religious discrimination against Nibbana Co-Operative Housing Society in Bandra’s posh Pali Hill.
The written complaint against Hashmi was lodged by Sanjay Bedia with the D.B. Marg police station in south Mumbai Sunday, an official said.
“However, since it does not fall in our jurisdiction, we have forwarded it for further action to the Bandra police,” said an official of D. B. Marg police station.
The duty officer of Bandra police station said: “We have accepted it and shall enquire into the matter. We have not registered any case against Hashmi or Bhatt in this matter.”
Bedia in his letter to police said that Hashmi and Bhatt are trying to create tensions between communities. He sought a public apology from the two.
In a related development, M.D. Suvarna, the owner of the flat which Hashmi was planning to purchase, suddenly withdrew his offer Saturday evening.
He said that now he has cancelled his plans to sell the flat since his son, residing in Canada wanted to keep the property.
“My flat is no more in the market,” he told reporters.
Earlier, Hashmi had complained to the Maharashtra Minorities Commission (MMC) vice-chairman Abraham Mathai about “religious bias” on the part of the housing society in refusing to issue to him a no-objection certificate (NoC) to purchase the flat.
Following this, Minister of State for Home M.A. Naseem Khan ordered Mumbai Joint Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria to inquire into Hashmi’s allegations.