File photo of Preity Zinta
Credit: PTI Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: Congress in Kerala on Tuesday faced off against Bollywood actor Preity Zinta over 'unpaid loans' by her and the actor flayed the party for 'spreading fake news about her' through social media.
Congress Kerala shared on its X handle a news report that alleged that the actor turned entrepreneur gave her social media accounts to the BJP and got Rs. 18 crore written off by a bank that collapsed last week.
Terming the report fake, Zinta posted in her X handle that it was a shame that the party was promoting fake news. "I’m shocked that a political party or their representative is promoting fake news and indulging in vile gossip and clickbaits using my name and images," she said.
She also clarified that she had fully paid back the loan over ten years back.
Congress Kerala subsequently posted that they are glad to accept any mistake made and that they had just shared the news as such.
"Good to know you're managing your own account, unlike other celebs who have handed theirs over to the notorious IT cell," said Congress Kerala in the post.
Zinta said that no bank had written off any loan that she had taken. The Veer-Zaara star claimed that she had taken a loan over 10 years ago which was "fully paid back."
This comes at a time when Hitesh Mehta, the general manager and head of accounts of the bank, has been accused of misappropriating Rs 122 crore from the bank's safe over a period of time.
He is currently in the custody of the Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing till February 28.