Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s lawyer argued on Wednesday in the Bombay High Court that the police might have tampered with the actor’s Toyota Land Cruiser Lexus which was involved in the 2002 hit-and-run accident.
The Bombay High Court is currently hearing Salman’s appeal against the conviction and five-year sentence for crashing his car into a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one person and injuring four others.
While four to six prosecution witnesses testified at the trial that the front left tyre of the car had burst but the RTO officer who inspected the car said the tyre was in good condition but had only deflated, Salman’s lawyer Amit Desai said, arguing before Justice A R Joshi.
“We strongly believe that the tyre, a vital piece of evidence, has been tampered with,” said advocate Desai.
He further said that Ashok Singh, the actor’s family driver who was driving the car (the trial court rejected this claim and held that Salman was driving the car) went to the Bandra police station and gave his version of the accident.
“If he (the RTO officer) was there, he should have found out that the tyre had burst….And if he was there and has seen something else, someone might have replaced the tyre,” the lawyer argued.
“The (police) officers knew what exactly had happened, particularly after what Ashok Singh had stated….PW-27 (the investigating officer) says he interrogated Singh but his statement was not recorded…Why? And now, he is told (by the prosecution) that he comes after 13 years! (to give evidence in the court),” said advocate Desai.
