The fight between actor Salman Khan and his NRI neighbor has taken a communal turn after the former accused the latter of dragging his religious identity into land dispute.
Salman has filed a civil suit against Ketan Kakkad, who owns a plot of land near the actor’s farmhouse in Panvel, for allegedly defaming him on YouTube.
As per a report in Live Law, the actor’s lawyer Pradeep Gandhi read out substantial portions of Ketan Kakkad’s posts and interviews in front of the court on Thursday. He said that Ketan had accused the actor of being “a front for the D Gang, commenting on his religious identity and implying that he was connected to the ruling party at the central and state level, leveling allegations of child trafficking, further alleging that bodies of film stars are buried in his farmhouse.”
At this, Salman responded through his lawyer, saying, “Without proper proof, all these allegations are a figment of the defendant’s imagination. In a property dispute, why are you tarnishing my personal reputation. Why are you bringing in religion? My mother is a Hindu, my father is a Muslim and my brothers have married Hindus. We celebrate all festivals.”
He said: “You are an educated person… not a Gunda-chhap to make such allegations. The easiest thing nowadays is to gather some people, get on social media and vent out all your anger.” He added that he had no aspirations to join politics.
Salman Khan, who lives in suburban Bandra in Mumbai, owns a farmhouse in Panvel in the neighboring Raigad district. Kakkad, also a Mumbai resident, owns a plot on a hill next to Khan’s farmhouse. According to Salman’s suit, Ketan made slanderous comments against the actor while speaking to a YouTuber.
Salman Khan has also made YouTube, social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google, parties to the suit, demanding that they be directed to block and remove the ‘defamatory content’ from their websites. Salman wants a permanent order restraining Ketan from posting or publishing defamatory content about the actor or his farmhouse.
