Was Salman Khan drunk that hit-and-run night? Prime witnesses in court today
Mumbai: Bandra police have managed to track down five people, who were injured on the night when Salman Khan rammed his car in Bandra, and will produce at least three of them as witnesses in the court today, April 28, the 'Mumbai Mirror' reported. According to the report, these five witnesses will be crucial for the prosecution, especially since Khan’s police bodyguard, Constable Ravindra Patil is no more. Patil had testified that Khan was drunk at the time of the accident.
A source from Bandra police was quoted saying, “The witnesses at first were reluctant to come to Mumbai. They said they had lost interest in the case and did not wish to get entangled in legal battles with anyone. But we eventually convinced them to come back.”
The three witnesses are now in Mumbai and in the safe custody of police in an undisclosed location.
Excerpts from the statements of two witnesses based on which the court ordered the framing of culpable homicide charges against Salman Khan
Muslim Shaikh, in his statement, said, “On the night of September 28, 2002, all of us, including the deceased Nurullah Sharif, 38, had gone to sleep by 11.30 pm. It was between 2.30 am and 3.00 am that I felt a sharp pain in my left thigh. When I got up I could see my colleagues crying and saw a white Jeep-type car on the pavement. I could see a human body beneath its tyres and one of my colleagues was screaming‘margayawoh…maardaala use.’ Then I saw some people rushing towards the car and saying Salman neeche utar. Actor Salman Khan got down from the driver seat and started running away. One man who claimed to be a policeman started pushing away the crowd, telling people to be calm and not to get violent. Then the people put me and my colleagues into auto rickshaws and got us admitted in hospital.”
Excerpts from constable Ravindra Patil's statement: “Around 2.30 am, we left from JW Marriot. Salman was driving at 100 kmph and I asked him to slow down but he refused. As we came to Bandra and turned towards the St. Andrews Road, he lost balance and rammed the vehicle into the closed shutter of the bakery. He had run over the people sleeping on the pavement. As the vehicle came to a halt an angry mob rushed towards Salman. Kamal and Salman started running from there but I stayed back. I prevented the crowd from reaching Salman and told them to help the victims first and admitted them to Bhabahospital. I then became the complainant in the case and told the cops that the actor was driving under the influence of alcohol."
