Mumbai: Mahesh Manjrekar, noted film director and key witness in the case of alleged nexus of bollywood with underworld, on October 29 disclosed that he was under "pressure" when police had recorded his statement in regard to his alleged telephonic conversation with Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel.

Manjrekar told defence lawyer Shrikant Shivde that he was under pressure when he was called to crime branch office for interrogation and recording his statement. Subsequently, his voice was recorded as a sample to compare it with the alleged talk he had with Shakeel.

To another question by defence lawyer Harshad Ponda, he said he had never met Shakeel either face to face or talked to him on telephone. Manjrekar had on October 28 turned hostile.

The witness told defence lawyer Majeed Memon that in crime branch office he played the role of an actor and the policemen performed as directors. "They gave me a script and told me how to deliver a dialogue. They also told me in what tone and what pitch and what pauses I have to deliver the dialogue of the script prepared by police to record my voice."

"I had to repeat the dialogues until the police were satisfied," the witness said.

The witness said he was not asked by police to sign his statement or even read it. Manjrekar also said when he was interrogated by crime branch sleuths he was not aware whether his statement was being typed or written.

Manjrekar denied his telephonic talk with Shakeel from a hotel in Nasik in the company of actor Sanjay Dutt, producer Sanjay Gupta and financier Harish Sughand.

PTI