Rajesh Dalal, A man wanted by the Delhi police in several cases of kidnapping, robbery and attempt to murder, confessed to have conspired to kill actor Mallika Sherawat.

He was arrested on Monday night from Sangli-Kolhapur highway and brought to Delhi. But as he was being tom-tommed before the press, Dalal shouted out that he wanted to kill Mallika Sherawat because of her disparaging remarks against the Jats.

"She has been exposing too much and bringing a bad name to the community. I had been planning to kill her for past some time," he told.

However, according to police, this is just a cheap publicity stunt by Dalal "to divert attention from his cases."

"He has nothing to do with Mallika and he is not even from Haryana that he should be offended by her alleged statements against the Jats," says Neeraj Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Police.

On the other hand, Mallika seems unfazed by such threats.

"Death threats don't scare me. However, I want to make one thing clear - it is not my intention to offend the sensibilities of my people. I respect our culture and traditions," the actor said in a statement.

Sherawat added that she believed in the empowerment of women. "Every woman should have the ability to stand on her own feet, earn a living and excel in her chosen career, which is exactly what I am trying to do," she said.

However her spokesperson Parul Gossain tells that her parents are very concerned for her considering beefing up her security.

Delhi Police brought Dalal to the capital yesterday. He, originally hails from Nangloi, had graduated in commerce from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana and started to crime in 1999, when he kidnapped his own estranged wife from her Paschim Vihar residence.

In 2005, Dalal was also involved in robbing Rs 9 lakh from a petrol pump manager at an Allahabad Bank in Paschim Vihar.