Overview
- At a Gorakhpur event, Mamta Kulkarni was recorded saying Dawood Ibrahim is not a terrorist and did not carry out bomb blasts in India, and the clip spread widely online.
- Within hours she issued a clarification asserting she meant Vicky Goswami, stated she has never met Dawood, and added that Dawood is a terrorist.
- Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam condemned the original comment, demanded an unconditional apology, and warned of legal action.
- Dawood Ibrahim remains widely accused as a principal conspirator in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts that killed 257 people, with no official change to that status reported.
- Kulkarni’s past association with Vicky Goswami resurfaced in coverage of the episode, though the Bombay High Court later canceled the FIR against her in the drug-trafficking case.