The Bombay High Court on Wednesday ordered the release of lawyer Rizwan Siddiqui, who was arrested by the crime branch of Thane police in connection with the Call Data Records (CDR) case involving some big names from Bollywood. The court has said that the lawyer must be released by 5 pm on Wednesday. Popular names from the film industry, including Kangana Ranaut, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Ayesha Shroff, have featured in connection with the case.
The case had come to light with the arrest of Rizwan Siddiqui, who is at the centre of the controversy. According to the police, Kangana Ranaut had shared actor Hrithik Roshan’s mobile number with Siddiqui in 2016. The police has, however, said that the reason for the same in not known.
Thane Police DCP Abhishek Trimukhe had also said that actor Jackie Shroff’s wife Ayesha Shroff had also procured call records of actor Sahil Khan, who made his debut in Bollywood with ‘Style’ along with Sharman Joshi, and shared the same with Rizwan Siddiqui.
Earlier, police had summoned Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the case. This had led to speculations that the actor was involved in the case and it was alleged that he was spying on his wife Alia Siddiqui. The police, however, confirmed later that he was summoned just as a witness.
"Nawazuddin Siddiqui has no direct role in the Call Data Record (CDR) case. He was summoned as a witness and has assured cooperation," Thane Police commissioner Parambir Singh had said.
It is alleged that a racket of private detectives was selling illegally obtained CDRs to lawyers and others. The Thane police have so far arrested 12 persons in the case.
