It's not me in Amar CD: Bipasha

Mumbai: Film actress Bipasha Basu has denied that she had ever spoken to Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on phone and termed as 'slanderous' the publication of the purported tapped telephonic conversations in a daily in Mumbai.

"I have never made any telephonic conversation with Amar Singh. This report is malicious. And I will explore legal options," she told CNN-IBN in a telephone interview.

She, however, ruled out the possibility of moving the court immediately. "At this point, there is no question of suing anybody," she said.

"I am a simple professional and I lead a simple life. And I have never been in this kind of controversy," the Bollywood star added.

"I am totally shocked at the slanderous report. It was nothing short of outrageous that the alleged conversation has been attributed to me," she claimed.

The media reports about the alleged Amar Singh-Bipasha telephonic conversation came after a CD purportedly containing phone conversations of the Samajwadi Party leader landed up with all the major TV channels.

The CD contains conversations between Amar Singh and several leaders and Bollywood actresses.

CNN-IBN has recieved the CD, titled Amar Singh Ki Amar Kahani, containing alleged taped conversation between Amar Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and other political and Bollywood bigwigs.

The CD came in a yellow envelope addressed to CNN-IBN. The envelope contained a copy of newsweekly India Today inside which the CD was kept.

The authencity of the CD has not been verified yet and CNN-IBN has decided to withold its telecast.

However, the channel has decided to send the CD to the Registrar General of Supreme Court and the Home Ministry.

Legal opinion, too, suggests the tapes should not be telecast as the matter is before the Supreme Court.

CNN-IBN Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai says that the channel will not broadcast the CD till its source and the authenticity is verified.

The CD purportedly contains conversations between Amar Singh, Anil Ambani, Mulayam Singh, two unnamed bureaucrats, Bollywood actress and Rajya Sabha MP Jayaprada and Congress MP Subbirami Reddy.

The CD is said to contain three types of conversations. One is a private conversation between Amar Singh and Bollywood actresses including Jayaprada.

The second set of conversation is between Amar and UP CM Mulayam Singh regarding the transfer of two bureaucrats and a judge of the Allahabad High Court.

Mulayam and Amar are also said to be talking about sugar deals and land deals in UP in the third set of conversations.

PAGE_BREAK

How it all began

In December, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav called a press conference to announce that 10, Janpath had ordered Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh's phones to be tapped.

He alleged that a private detective Bhupendra Kumar was hired to carry out the covert operation for Rs 5 lakh every week.

He was also alleged to have received at least half-a-crore rupees (Rs 5 million) on the job before he was resulted.

According to the Delhi Police, the tapping of Amar Singh's phones was motivated by a simple and straightforward drive on the part of four persons who wanted to make quick money by blackmailing Amar Singh.

According to this version, the case does not have the sensational political angle that Amar Singh claims it has.

Amar Singh has alleged right from the last week of December that top Congress leaders where behind the operation.

According to him, Congress president Sonia Gandhi was in the know of the operation.

The Delhi Police, however, firmly rule out any political angle to the conspiracy or the involvement of any political personality in it.

The Government Examiner for Questioned Documents (GECD) is understood to have confirmed on January 25 that Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh's cell phone was tapped and that the voice samples recorded on the compact discs was from a phone belonging to him.

The GECD, which has examined the computer discs and CDs seized by the Delhi Police in the Amar Singh phone-tapping case, submitted its interim report to the Delhi police.