MUMBAI: Actor Shilpa Shetty has apologised for allegedly using a casteist term in a recent interview, saying her words had been misconstrued and it was not her intention to hurt anyone's feelings.
The Mumbai Police yesterday said they were looking into a complaint, seeking the filing of an offence against Shilpa and Salman Khan for allegedly using a casteist phrase.
The 42-year-old actor issued an apology on Twitter.
"Some of my words from an interview in the past have been misinterpreted. It was never said with the intent of hurting anyone's feelings...
"I apologise if they have. I'm proud to belong to a country that boasts of diverse castes and creeds and I respect each one of them," Shilpa wrote.
The complaint was filed at the Andheri police station by Navin Ramchandra Lade, the general secretary of the Rojgar Aghadi Republican Party of India, seeking that a case be lodged against the two actors for allegedly using the casteist term, the police said.
The "Tiger Zinda Hai" actor had used the term during a TV show, the complaint read.
The complainant also submitted recordings of the remarks made by the actors to the police, who said they had received the complaint, but no case was registered as yet.
"No case has been registered until now. We are verifying the jurisdiction and other aspects of the complaint. Action will be taken, based on our probe," senior inspector of the Andheri police station Pandit Thorat said.