Bollywood actress Sushmita sen’s car got seized as she allegedly evaded customs duties. According to Media reports, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence confiscated Sushmita Sen’s Land Cruiser and has asked her to pay Rs. 20 lakhs as customs duty.

The car was imported last March and Sushmita Sen apparently bought the vehicle through a dealer in May 2005. The vehicle was brought into the country under the transfer of residence (TR) scheme that stipulates that the vehicle may not be sold before two years of personal use by the importer.

Investigations by DRI revealed that the chasis number on the Land Cruiser had also been tampered with. When the vehicle was imported, the passenger had claimed that it was a 1998 model, and had valued it at Rs579,000, and a duty of Rs897,000 was paid.

The DRI sought the help of Toyota Kirloskar Motors, the joint venture manufacturing unit in India of the Japanese auto giant, and investigations revealed that it was a 2003 model Land Cruiser. It had a value of Rs1.9 million (and a current market value of over Rs5 million), and would normally attract customs duty of Rs2.93 million. Since there was a duty evasion of Rs2 million, the DRI seized the vehicle from Sen, who had bought it from a dealer and was using it in Mumbai. (more…)

Abu Salem, India’s most wanted men, has confessed to the police that he delivered the arms to Sanjay Dutt before the Mumbai blasts. The 15-page written confession, that had been kept confidential, was read out by the judge in a court in India’s commercial capital, Mumbai (Bombay).

Sanjay Dutt had earlier denied any involvement in the blasts. Salem is a prime suspect in the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai that killed 250 people. Abu Salem’s confession to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was made public Wednesday after the designated TADA court here opened a sealed envelope containing his statements.

Abu Salem, accused of masterminding the Mumbai blasts that until then was the worst urban terror attack, told the investigative agency that he had delivered three AK-56 rifles and some cartages to Dutt. Snajay was present in the TADA - Terrorist And Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act - court is one of 123 people accused in the blasts case that shook the country’s financial capital.

The extradited gangster said he was terrified by the arms cache. However, according to him, Dutt was unfazed and was handling the guns, grenades and rounds. (more…)

The Bollywood star Aamir Khan is going ahead with a legal action against a film magazine for using his photograph in a film awards campaign. Khan wants 21 million rupees (S$768,000) and an apology from the magazine, Filmfare. He is also asking the publishers not to use his name or picture without his consent. The publisher is Worldwide Media, a joint venture between BBC Worldwide and India’s Times Of India group.

His lawyer Anand Desai told the BBC that Khan objects to the use of his photograph and a comment in a promotional advertisement which suggested that ‘he is endorsing Filmfare’. Khan shuns Bollywood film award ceremonies, and has never accepted an award from them since 1989 when he won a Filmfare award for the best debut by a male actor.The actor has shunned Filmfare award ceremonies since winning the Best Debut award in 1989 for his movie QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK.

He also failed to attend this year’s (06) ceremony, despite being nominated in the Best Actor category for his performance in MANGAL PANDEY (THE RISING). Aamir Khan on the other hand is presently away in Poland, shooting for Kunal Kohli’s Fanaah.

Chunkey Pandey has tied up exclusively with Sahara’s Filmi Channel, for being their official brand ambassador. His filmi career too is on a roll as he has been signed by some of the best Bollywood directors for their films.

Talking about Sahara, Chunkey said, “They were convinced that I would be the ideal actor for the ‘Filmi’ texture of the channel. After all no one can carry off a pink shirt so well as I can,” he smiles.

Chunkey’s television appearance comes a years after he had last anchored the popular - Superhit Muqabla. “There was a very different perception of television at that point of time. Today television has become indispensable to us stars. If you are not on television, you cannot really reach out to your audiences,” he says.

Varun Badola who has proved his versatility from serials like ‘Astitva-Ek Prem Kahaani’, ‘Des Mein Nikla Hoga Chand’ and more recently ‘Nach Baliye’ opposite his wife Rajeswari, has been signed up by Star One for a serial called ‘Arranged Marriage’.

The show which will probably air in March and it will also star Rajeswari. This serial is going to be remade by Haasil and Charas film director Thigmanshu Dhulia. The actor confirmed, “Yes, we (Varun and Rajeswari) have been signed for a show. It’s called Arranged Marriage. We have already started shooting for it. But we are not cast opposite each other. Rajeswari is playing a wedding planner”. (more…)