Did you know that the gangster Abu Salem, now undergoing imprisonment in an Uttar Pradesh jail, has confessed that he was smitten by actress Sushmita Sen the very moment he saw her in Dubai in 1995?

The story goes back to 1994 when Abu Salem was organizing shows in Dubai where Bollywood stars were regular performers.

It is during one of these shows, that he met the former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen in 1995. It was a time when Sushmita had just entered the film industry and was introduced to the gangster by her friend Amir Shaikh from Bahrain. And Salem was charmed by the actress.

The two first met in person in a restaurant Wadi Kabir in Muscat in 1999 for a show there and again in Chicago after Abu Salem moved to the US in 2000.

However, the gangster's first wife Samira Jumani did not like of his association with Sushmita and they often quarreled over his relation with the actress. However, he clarified that he did not have an affair with the actress.

While this has been confirmed from the intelligence records of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch, the police have said that the actress had no connection whatsoever with the gangster's business.

However, Abu Salem has told the police that he has high regards for Sushmita Sen. The two met several times at different places and on different occasions between 1999 and 2000, but the actress refuses to tell anything on this. -Chandan Das