How Salem got Monica in his life

New Delhi: A simple girl from a small village called Chabbewal in Hoshiarpur district, Punjab, Monica Bedi had starry dreams like many others.

When Monica came to Mumbai to try her luck in the film industry, she came into contact with a film producer named Mukesh Duggal, who took her to Dubai for a stage show. It was here that Duggal introduced her to Abu Salem.

With Monica being linked to a real life don, she managed to get some acting assignments.

With a string of flops and with no particular talent, Monica gained from her proximity to Salem who was a keen follower of the Bollywood and also masterminded several attacks on film personalities who dared him.

Though Salem was more interested in extortion, he reportedly also insisted that Bedi be given roles in films.

So Monica ended up with some eminently forgettable titles like Suraksha, Pyar, Ishq Aur Mohabbat, Jaanam Samjha Karo and Zanjeer.

Jodi No 1, her last film, was the only one which saw any success.

Monica was associated with Mafia big shots and even got access to Arab sheiks.

The photographers? club in Milan also called her for a naked photograph session.

It is alleged that in turn for getting her assignments, Monica passed on information about film personalities to Salem.

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The case against Monica

Monica Bedi along with Abu Salem is accused of acquiring a fake passport in the name of Sana Malik Kamal from Hyderabad.

She has also been accused of giving out false facts about herself and using forged documents.

The Bollywood starlet was using this passport when she and Salem were arrested by the Interpol and sentenced to two years in a Lisbon jail for entering Portugal on forged documents in September 2002.

Family Drama

Monica?s family however feels that she had either been misled or intimidated and abducted.

Villagers at Chabbewal think differently. Surinder Pal Singh Sandhu, a resident of the village, says that Monica has brought bad repute to the village.

Monica?s uncle Purshottam Bedi defended her saying, "My niece was never like this. It is sad that such an incident has happened to a member of my family. I am not sure whether we will pursue the matter in court or not. However I know that the family will support her once they hear her story and believe that she is innocent."

Monica, in a letter to President APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said that she was apologetic but scared that extradition would seal her fate.

She had written that she feared physical and mental torture by the CBI.

She also claimed that Abu Salem was introduced to her during a stage show as Arslam Ali, a businessman from Pakistan and that she came to know about his actual identity much later.

Monica Bedi said that Abu Salem forced her to secure a forged passport and clarified that she had never used it while going out from India or in Dubai.

Bedi who along with Abu Salem was extradited from Portugal to India on Friday morning will be sent to Hyderabad to be interrogated in the fake passport case that is pending against her.

Deputy Inspector General of police, Bhopal Range, Anuradha Shanker Singh said, ?Monica Bedi has been given a transit police remand and she will be taken to Hyderabad on November 14. She has been booked under the passport act.