Actor Sanjay Dutt's friends and family have defended his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai blasts as a "foolish mistake", calling for his jail sentence to be revoked.



But Mumbai police say the five-year sentence he was awarded on Thursday was nothing more than a rap on the knuckles for the actor, considering the "camaraderie" he shared with mastermind Dawood Ibrahim's right hand man Chhota Shakeel till long after the attacks.



"It wasn't a foolish mistake. Dutt has been in touch with the underworld all along," said a senior police officer. Between October 27 and November 30, 2000, the police had recorded 32 conversations between film financier Bharat Shah and Shakeel to investigate the former's connections with Dawood.

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In one of the conversations that took place on November 14, Dutt is heard telling Shakeel about a T-shirt the actor had purchased for him.



In yet another, the Munnabhai star talks about having discussed something with the "boss", presumably Dawood, before Shakeel asks him to refrain from "talking about this in front of people".



Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, too, has slammed efforts to get a pardon for Dutt. "Had he informed the police about the contraband (weapons) arriving in the city, the blasts could probably have been prevented," he said.

