Wednesday, July 20 2005 19:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Two senior officials of Mumbai Police would probe the case relating to the tapes in which actor Salman Khan has allegedly threatened actress Aishwarya Rai and flaunted his underworld links, Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil informed the state assembly in Mumbai today (July 20, 2005).

"Additional Police Commissioner, K L Bishnoi and Assistant Police Commissioner T K Yengde will probe the case," he said adding that, there was no reason for transferring the case from Mumbai police to the state CID as sought by BJP leader Gopinath Munde in the House. "Police have taken the voice samples of Salman and Aishwarya and they were being sent to the forensic lab at Chandigarh for analysis," Patil said, while making a statement on the issue in the House.

Patil also rejected Munde's demand that the state government should not seek "legal opinion on the case at every step." "The conversation which was aired on TV channels and transcripts of which appeared in the daily Hindustan Times on July 14 and 15, took place in 2001," Patil said. "A complaint was received on August 27, 2001 that calls were being made from a particular number to underworld don Abu Salem. After obtaining necessary approval from the competent authority, the phone was tapped between August and October 2001", Patil said adding that the phone belonged to Salman.

Police have recorded statements of Salman and Aishwarya and would be seeking legal opinion while proceeding with the case, he said. "We will require legal opinion to check if the banter between two friends can be termed as a crime," Patil said.

Munde, group leader of BJP in the Lower House, said the government should hand over the case to CID as the Mumbai police was not competent to handle the case.

He said the government should clarify as to with which tape would the voice of the stars be compared. "It would be compared with the voice in the tapes given by you and also those aired by media," Patil said.