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Actor Mamta Kulkarni back in India after 24 years: All about ₹2,000 crore drugs case she was accused in
Mamta Kulkarni's criminal case related to a ₹2,000 crore drug haul was dismissed by the Bombay High Court, citing insufficient evidence.
Mamta Kulkarni, the popular Bollywood actress from the 90s, returned to Mumbai after a long absence due to being accused in a ₹2,000 crore drug haul case. The 'Karan Arjun' actor shared a touching video on Instagram, where she expressed being overwhelmed by the experience of being back in India.
“Hey guys this is Mamta Kulkarni, I just returned to India, Bombay, Aamchi Mumbai after 25 years. I’m really nostalgic that I went out of India in 2000 and exactly in 2024 I'm here. I’m really overwhelmed and emotional, I don’t know how to express it. Before the flight landed, I was looking at my left-right. I saw my country from the top for almost 25 years. I became emotional I had tears in my eyes. I put my foot down out of the Mumbai International Airport and I became extremely overwhelmed,” the actor said in the video.
Earlier this year, the Bombay High court quashed the criminal proceedings against Kulkarni in connection with the drugs case. A division bench of Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande struck down the case against Kulkarni, citing lack of evidence against her.
₹2,000 crore drugs case
The case originated from a large-scale drug haul by the Thane police in April 2016, when the Anti-Narcotics Cell intercepted two vehicles carrying Ephedrine worth ₹80 lakh. The substance was traced to a factory in Solapur, Maharashtra, run by Avon Life Sciences Limited, a company reportedly controlled by Kulkarni's husband, Vicky Goswami. Police alleged that Kulkarni, who was a director of the company and held 11 lakh shares, was complicit in the drug trafficking operation.
Goswami was alleged to be the mastermind behind the racket, which involved the manufacture and procurement of Ephedrine, a controlled substance under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. Police, in subsequent raids, also seized 18,000 kg of Ephedrine worth ₹2,000 crore from a factory owned by Avon Lifesciences Limited in Solapur.
The police had named Mamta Kulkarni as a prime accused in the case, alleging that she was involved in the illegal activities and had attended meetings in Tanzania and Dubai to discuss the drug trade. However, Kulkarni had approached the high court in 2018 to quash the criminal proceedings against her, claiming that she was innocent and there was no evidence against her.
The court's decision to quash the case against Kulkarni comes as a significant relief to the actress, who had been facing extradition proceedings in Kenya, where she was residing with her husband.
