It was another day for Salman Khan away from the studios. The actor made an appearance in the City Civil Session court this morning in connection with the 2002 accident case.
In what could be seen as more trouble for the actor, a steward, working in a bar of a five star hotel identified the superstar in the court. He told the court that Salman along with a group of friends had visited the bar a few hours before the accident involving the superstar had occurred on Hill Road, Bandra on the night of September 28, 2002.
The witness claimed that he had served Bacardi and cocktails to the group that had come with Salman on the accident night 12 years ago. However the waiter said he did not remember whether the actor had consumed drinks. The witness further added it would be difficult for him to say whether everyone in the group had consumed alcoholic drinks.
The star managed to hoodwink the waiting cameras at the main gate of the court as he entered from the back gate. The court hearing went on for a good hour-and-a half after which the court was adjourned till tomorrow.
Salman was accompanied by his sisters Alvira Agnihotri and Arpita Khan. His manager Reshma Shetty, his friend Pippy aka Prashant and his loyal bodyguard Shera were also seen accompanying him. In fact, Pippy and Shera stood right outside the witness box in which Salman stood.
Dressed in a dark blue jeans and a light blue denim shirt, with his hair neatly pulled back, the star looked visibly bored with chips down.
It was terribly hot inside in the courtroom, packed with perspiring attendees. Battling the heat, people could be seen wiping sweat trickling down their forehead. Salman was lucky as he had a ceiling fan, right above the witness box which he occupied for the one-and-a-half hour of his duration in the courtroom.
The gathered photographers could not get any pictures of Salman Khan even when he left the court premises as he was not seated in the front, next to his driver as he is usually. His friend Pippy sat in the front and Salman sat behind. Both the car windows of the back seat were shielded with a light gauze, which made it impossible for flashbulbs to photograph him.
One person was killed and four others were injured when Salman had allegedly rammed his car into a bakery shop on September 28, 2002.
Six witnesses have so far deposed in the re-trial, which would continue.

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral RK Dhowan said all recent incidents involving assets of the Navy have been thoroughly analysed and all standard operating procedures are being followed.

“The incidents have been analysed thoroughly at every level. We have put a safety audit organisation in place. We have reiterated to the organisation to see that all standing operating procedures are followed because Navy is a highly professional service,” Dhowan said.

On the state of probe into the incidents, he said, “We have ensured that the measures that need to be taken to ensure the safety standards are in place even before the board of inquiry has been completed.”

“It will be our endeavour to see that whatever lessons are learnt from the board of inquiry, we put those measures in place throughout the Navy” he added.

The Western Naval Command has taken all measures after these incidents so that the operational efficiency of submarines, ships and aircraft remains intact, said Dhowan.

The Navy had a spate of mishaps involving Naval warships in the recent past.

Last year 18 Navy men were killed in an explosion on INS Sindhurakshak. In February this year, two Navy officers were killed and seven sailors injured in a major fire in submarine INS Sindhuratna following which the then Naval Chief Admiral D K Joshi had resigned.

“The Western Naval Command is the most important command of the Navy.

Our officers are capable and responsible to take care of the assets of this command and also to face all the requirements and challenges,” he said.

Asked to comment on the appointment of the Chief of Naval Staff, Dhowan said it is the government’s decision.

“I am a professional and will carry out my duties as far as the office of the Chief of Naval Staff is concerned with professional integrity and pride that I have had the credibility of in the last 40 years. The decision is that of the government,” he said.

To a query on shifting of INS Vikrant from the Naval dockyard to a ship breaking yard, he said the Navy will follow proper procedures in the matter.

“This matter is in the Supreme Court. The command will take all actions in accordance to procedures. Whatever are the requirements of discarding Vikrant, we will follow the procedures,” he said.

On the procurement plans of Navy, Dhowan said, “We have a long term perspective plan for procurement where we decide of our requirements. Our procurement process happens with a laid down procedure.”

“Recently we have inducted aircraft carrier Vikramaditya, which is now fully operational on the western sea board under the Western Naval Command,” he said.

“Shivalik class ships have been inducted into the eastern fleet. We have also our own communication satellite Rukmani which will give a tremendous boost and be a force multiplier as far as the network centric operations of the Navy are concerned,” he said.

The Navy will further include the first ship of project-15 Alpha of the Kolkata class in the Western Naval Command. The ships of project-28 will be included in the Eastern Naval Command, Dhowan said.

There is emphasis on training of Navy personnel, he said. “We have laid a lot of stress to ensure that our personnel are adequately trained, their skills are perfected so that they are ready to face any challenge posed before them. In the coming months it will be my priority to see that we work together as a team so that we can take the Navy to greater heights in the coming years,” he added.

Cash amounting to Rs. 1.2 crores was stolen from Satish Kaushik’s residence, the actor-filmmaker said in a complaint to the police.

Mr. Kaushik lodged the complaint on late Sunday at the Versova police station. An official from the station said: “Last night (Sunday night) at around 8:30 pm, Satish and his wife lodged a complaint. Around Rs. 1.2 crores cash has been stolen from his residence. The investigation is going on right now.”

Satish Kaushik had received the cash on May 16 for his creative work, and he planned to deposit the sum at a bank on Monday. He had briefly left it in his living room when it was stolen, said a source close to him.

The source also said that they suspect that Sajan Kumar, a house help, picked up the bag containing the cash and fled the house in the afternoon when Kaushik’s wife went to the restroom.

Sajan Kumar is absconding, according to the source. Mr. Kaushik remained unavailable for comment.

One person was injured in an alleged attack by a group of people over a dispute related to construction of a stable in Kalwa area of Thane, police said today.

Some people in the Waghoba Nagar slum colony were irked with Sudham Ranu Yadav (64) as he did not allow vehicles to pass through a road where the construction of a stable owned by him was underway, Kalwa police station senior inspector R D Malekar said.

Last night, a group of people reached the stable and fired from their revolvers at Yadav.

They also beat up other inmates of the stable in which Yadav’s son Hariprasad was badly injured. He was later admitted in Kalwa’s Chhatrapati Shivaji hospital.

Offences have been registered under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Arms Act, police said adding that search for the culprits was on.