A witness in the hit-and-run case allegedly involving Salman Khan told the trial court that he had seen the actor in the driver’s seat in a stationary car in the parking slot of a hotel in suburban Juhu on the same night when his vehicle met with an accident.
However, the witness, Kalpesh Verma, the then parking attendant at the hotel, said he had not seen who was sitting in driver’s seat when the car left the hotel. He had also not seen who was driving the vehicle when the vehicle moved out.
The prosecution’s case is that Salman had come to the hotel along with his friends and had drinks before leaving the place and meeting with an accident in Bandra on September 28, 2002 in which one person was killed and four others injured.
The witness told public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat that Salman was handed over a parking ticket after his car entered the hotel’s parking slot and the actor gave him a Rs. 500 note as tip which he deposited in the tip box.
During cross-examination by Salman’s lawyer Srikant Shivade, the witness, said that the parking tickets contain the name of the person driving the car and the vehicle number. However, Salman’s name did not figure in any parking ticket.
The witness said he had given the parking ticket to police but he was unable to say why it had not been produced before the court.
The witness also said he had seen singer Kamaal Khan sitting behind Salman.
Asked in cross-examination whether Kamaal Khan was sitting on the left side or right side behind Salman, the witness replied that he was on the left side.
This question was asked by Salman’s lawyer to show that the actor was sitting on the left side while the driver’s seat is on the right.
Another witness, Amin Shaikh, who was sleeping outside a bakery where the actor’s car allegedly met with an accident, said he had heard people shouting “Salman bahar Aajao” but he did not see the actor in the car. He saw people assaulting Salman’s bodyguard who was standing near a door of the car.
Salman had come to the court and was sitting in the dock during the trial which has been adjourned to November 5.
