Actor Mamta Kulkarni returns to India after 25 years

Former Bollywood actress Mamta Kulkarni,the popular Bollywood actress from the 90s, returned to Mumbai after a long absence due to being accused in a Rs 2,000 crore drug haul case. Ms Kulkarni left the country in 2000.The 'Karan Arjun' actor shared a video on Instagram.
“Hey guys this is Mamta Kulkarni, I just returned to India, Bombay, Aamchi Mumbai after 25 years. I’m really nostalgic that I went out of India in 2000 and exactly in 2024 I'm here. I’m really overwhelmed and emotional, I don’t know how to express it. Before the flight landed, I was looking at my left-right. I saw my country from the top for almost 25 years. I became emotional I had tears in my eyes. I put my foot down out of the Mumbai International Airport and I became extremely overwhelmed,” the actor said in the video.
The actress was embroiled in a high-profile drug case that rocked Bollywood and law enforcement circles alike. This case, worth Rs 2,000 crore, first came to light in 2016, when the Thane police initiated an investigation into a major drug trafficking operation.The case revolved around Avon Lifesciences Ltd, a pharmaceutical company based in Solapur, Maharashtra, which the police alleged was being used to siphon ephedrine, a controlled substance. The ephedrine was supposedly destined for Kenya, where it would be processed into methamphetamine for the US market. Ms Kulkarni was named as an accused alongside her partner, Vicky Goswami, an alleged drug lord, in the case. The police claimed that Ms Kulkarni was present at a meeting held at the Bliss Hotel in Kenya on January 8, 2016, where details of the drug operation were allegedly discussed.
Kulkarni had approached the high court in 2018 to quash the criminal proceedings against her, claiming that she was innocent and there was no evidence against her. Earlier this year, the Bombay High court quashed the criminal proceedings against Kulkarni in connection with the drugs case. A division bench of Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande struck down the case against Kulkarni, citing lack of evidence against her.The court's decision to quash the case against Kulkarni comes as a significant relief to the actress, who had been facing extradition proceedings in Kenya, where she was residing with her husband.