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‘Slumdog Millionaire’ actor put behind bars on charges of extortion

The Oscar winning flick ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ has once again come under the arc light for the wrong reason. The film, that has been the talk of the nation ever since it went to achieve sky soaring success followed by murky controversies concerning its two child actors, has once again been caught in a storm. Latest news has it that actor Ajit Pandey, who played a goon in the film, has been arrested for extortion.

Spicezee Bureau
Mumbai, June 23: The Oscar winning flick ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ has once again come under the arc light for the wrong reason. The film, that has been the talk of the nation ever since it went to achieve sky soaring success followed by murky controversies concerning its two child actors, has once again been caught in a storm. Latest news has it that actor Ajit Pandey, who played a goon in the film, has been arrested for extortion.Pandey, 20, played the side role of a hired goon of gangster Mahesh Manjrekar in the film. The actor has been put behind bars for allegedly extorting money and trying to bag film roles by threatening producers on phone. Driven by the desire to make it big in the industry, the actor allegedly posed as a certain Irfan Husri, an associate of Chhota Shakeel, to force producers to give him roles. He would call producers and tell them to give a break to ‘his man Pandey’ or face dire consequences. What’s more is that he told the producers that if they did not cast Pandey they would have to give him Rs 20 lakhs. In order to make his case strong, Pandey even lodged a complaint with the police against Husri. In the meanwhile, he called the producers and told them that Husri had forced him to call the producers. Confirming the reports a crime branch officer said, “He would call up saying, ‘Aey producer! Main Irfan bolta hun. Ye Ajit Pandey apne gang ka hai lekin abhi sudhar gaya hai. Isko kaam dene ka, nahi to uda doonga.’ He would also claim allegiance to the D gang. Pandey used a SIM card from Madhya Pradesh registered in the name of his friend to make these calls. He got the card when he had gone to his native place in MP a few months ago. He used the same modus operandi to extort money from producers on behalf of his actor friends, whose payments were due”. And though many producers ignored his calls, Pandey was in deep trouble, when Pramod Kapoor of Ramanand Sagar productions refused to give in to these threats and reported the matter to the police. It was then that his designs went weak and became clear after police investigation.