Former cop Rakesh Maria reveals he held Sanjay Dutt by his hair, planted a 'tight slap' on his cheek when he was arrested in 1993

The rise and fall of Sanjay Dutt in the early days of his career has been one of the most-discussed topics in Bollywood. His turbulent life has also been captured on the big screen in Ranbir Kapoor starrer Sanju. While Sanjay Dutt may be making waves with his acting prowess now, his heydays were spent behind bars after links were found between him and Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company.

One of the biggest controversies surrounding Sanjay Dutt's life has been the case involving illegal possession of arms he found himself tangled in. He was also accused of being involved in the 1993 Bombay bombings. Sunil Dutt's son was imprisoned for being in possession of a 9mm pistol, an AK-56 rifle, hand grenades and ammunition. He was later cleared of the charges.

And now, Rakesh Maria, in his autobiography Let Me Say It Now has opened up about questioning Sanjay after he was detained. According to him Sanjay first claimed innocence.

“The tension and stress of the last few days caught up with me. I could not bear the lie and couldn’t help but plant a tight slap on his cheek. He tilted backwards, his legs going up in mid-air and I swiftly held him by his mane of long, gold-tilted hair. Looking literally down upon him into his horrified and scared eyes, I said, ‘I am asking you like a gentleman, you answer like one’,” a report in IANS quoted from his book.

Excerpts from his autobiography then stated that industry legends Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, Mahesh Bhatt, Yash Johar among other would visit the young actor.

As per the book, as Sunil Dutt protested his son's innocence, the latter was called in and he admitted to his mistake in front of his father and also revealed he had destroyed the weapons. Maria, in his book, reveals he was stunned with his son's admission of guilt left the blood draining from his face. As per Maria's book, the “magnitude and gravity” of his son’s actions left him a broken man, and “his reputation, stature and standing punctured and deflated.”

Maria in his autobiography also revealed that the detention had left Sanjay Dutt an emotional wreck who would often request meetings. The policeman, worried he might cause himself bodily harm would meet him at night after his work.

Sanjay would speak about his troubled past, addictions, mother Nargis Dutt, his romantic affairs and would 'cry incessantly' during these times.