Witness Say Salman was Driving Drunk[/b]
Actor Salman Khan was so drunk that he fell down, then got up and ran away from where his car ran over a group of people in Mumbai in 2002, testified a survivor in court today. One person died and four were injured in the accident.
Mr Khan, 47, was present for the hearing in a Mumbai court today.
The witness, who was injured in the accident, said that he saw Mr. Khan getting out from the driver's side of the Toyota Land Cruiser; the actor's lawyers have argued for nearly a decade that he was not at the wheel. One of the witnesses who identified him in court has complained to the police that he received a threatening call two days ago. The court will take it up in the next hearing. It was past 2 am when Mr Khan's car drove onto a payment in suburban Bandra and ran over a group of people sleeping on the road. In December, a Mumbai court ordered a fresh trial for Mr. Khan, who is accused now of culpable homicide in the hit-and-run case and faces upto 10 years in prison if convicted. He originally faced lesser charges of rash and negligent driving.
In 1998, Mr Khan spent a few days in prison for killing blackbuck deer, an endangered species, in Rajasthan. 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. 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.
Actor Salman Khan was so drunk that he fell down, then got up and ran away from where his car ran over a group of people in Mumbai in 2002, testified a survivor in court today. One person died and four were injured in the accident.
Mr Khan, 47, was present for the hearing in a Mumbai court today.
The witness, who was injured in the accident, said that he saw Mr. Khan getting out from the driver's side of the Toyota Land Cruiser; the actor's lawyers have argued for nearly a decade that he was not at the wheel. One of the witnesses who identified him in court has complained to the police that he received a threatening call two days ago. The court will take it up in the next hearing. It was past 2 am when Mr Khan's car drove onto a payment in suburban Bandra and ran over a group of people sleeping on the road. In December, a Mumbai court ordered a fresh trial for Mr. Khan, who is accused now of culpable homicide in the hit-and-run case and faces upto 10 years in prison if convicted. He originally faced lesser charges of rash and negligent driving.
In 1998, Mr Khan spent a few days in prison for killing blackbuck deer, an endangered species, in Rajasthan. 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. 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.