Vasai's Ambadi Road area saw high drama on Monday morning as 'terrorists' stop at a pan bidi shop 'fully armed', sending town's entire police force into a tizzy
The actors in 'terrorist' costume
A quick stop at a pan bidi shop while still in costume has landed two actors working in a Yash Raj film in big trouble with the police and has also cost them their jobs. Balram Jinwala, 23, and Arbaz Khan, 20, whose outfits were so convincing that they were mistaken for militants by an ex-BSF jawan, set off a massive police chase on Monday afternoon."
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One of the costumed men seen in CCTV footage. Pics/Hanif Patel
On Monday afternoon, the jawan, Anil Mahajan, 40, who works as a security guard for a bank in Vasai, was shocked to see the two men dressed as Kashmiri militants with one of them sporting a bullet pouch on his belt.
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Anil Mahajan, ex-BSF jawan
He immediately informed a relative, who is a cop, who advised him to call the Palghar police control room. With the massive hunt proving to be a complete waste of time, the cops have now booked the two men along with the production staff for violating the permit to shoot in their area. The film, according to Jinwala, is an unnamed one and stars Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff.
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The cops were surprised to see many other people in similar outfits at Sun City
Explaining why he was perturbed on seeing the two actors, Mahajan said, "They were tall, healthy and were wearing military shoes. They had warpaint on and their heads were covered with a bandana. One of them had a long beard and was carrying a pouch of bullets on his belt. They bought cigarettes from the shop, crossed the road and disappeared." He added, "I have worked for the Border Security Force and have seen many terrorists in Kashmir and other areas who look similar. I first called a relative in Nashik who is a cop, who gave me the number of the Palghar police control."
Cops scanned CCTV footages before tracing the bus and the two actors to the film set
Additional SP Vijaykant Sagar alerted the entire police force from Vasai, Manikpur and Nalasopara police stations, increased patrolling units and also imposed Nakabandis at various exit points and junctions.
After checking CCTV footage, Constable Santosh Geete traced the bus and suspects Jinwala and Khan, to Sun City that same evening and alerted his senior officials. However, to his surprise, Geete found 25 to 27 people in similar getups at the spot. "We realised then that it was a film shooting. We booked two unit in-charge Himalaya Patil, 27, and Datta Ram Lad, 38, along with the two alleged terrorists," said Vasant Labde, senior inspector, Nalasopara police station.
'People were staring at us'
Balram Jinwala said, "As we were heading for the shoot I felt the urge to smoke and told the driver to stop at a pan bidi shop. The driver refused and I wish I had listened to him." Jinwala then got into an argument with the driver and forced him to stop. He and Khan then went straight to the shop. "We suddenly realised that people around were staring. I got scared and explained that we were in costume and headed for a shoot. We left the spot quickly." Sometime later, the cops landed up at the set and arrested a shocked Jinwala and Khan. "I have paid a heavy price for my addiction, I have lost my job and now have a police case against me. This is a big lesson for me."
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