Witness turns hostile in Salman Khan's hit-and-run case

June 24, 2014

Mumbai, Jun 24: A witness in the 2002 hit-and-run case involving Salman Khan on Tuesday retracted his police statement in a court, saying he had not said that the actor had got down from the driver's seat of his vehicle and ran away after the accident occurred in suburban Bandra.

"My statement recorded by police that I saw Salman coming out from the driver's seat and running away from the spot is incorrect," the witness, Sachin Kadam, a security guard of NeelSagar Hotel, told Judge D W Deshpande.

Salman Khans hit-and-runEarlier, the witness had told police in a statement that he had seen the actor getting down from the driver's seat of his car and going away from the scene of the mishap.

Kadam said he had only told the police that a big car came and rammed into the shutter of a shop.

Kadam was on Tuesday confronted with his police statement but he went back on his own words saying he had not told the police about this.

However, the witness was unable to say why the police had recorded a "false version" in his statement.

Public prosecutor Jagannath Kenjralkar told the court that Kadam should be declared as a hostile witness as he had not supported the prosecution. However, the court has yet to pass order on this plea.

During cross-examination, the witness told Salman's lawyer Srikant Shivade that he had not seen the accident as he was on duty on that day at the gate of the restaurant.

"I heard a loud noise and only then I went there to see that a car had rammed into a shop," he said.

NeelSagar Hotel, where he works, is just opposite to the bakery and laundry where Salman's car had met with an accident on September 28, 2002, in which one person was killed and four others injured.

Another witness, Mohammed Shaikh, who was one of those injured in the mishap, however, supported the prosecution's case saying he had seen Salman standing at the accident spot after he was rescued from underneath the car by people.

"I saw Salman after I was rescued. There were two more people but I did not recognise them. It was a big white car," said the witness.

Shaikh said he was sleeping with Narullah and others outside a bakery shop when the car ran over them and hit the shutter. He was admitted to Bhabha hospital with a fractured leg and over there he learnt that Narullah had died in the mishap.

However, during cross-examination, the witness said that he did not see Salman offering help in the rescue work.

"I was underneath the car for 10 to 15 minutes and could not see who was around us," said Shaikh.

To a question whether he saw Salman moving the car with the help of others after the accident, the witness replied, "I do not know."

"Police came and took away the car but I cannot say how the vehicle was taken away by them. Till then, Narullah and I were underneath the car and shouting at the top of our voices for help," Shaikh said.

The witness further said that taxi drivers and bakery workers, who had rescued them, were screaming that the accident had been "done by Salman".

Shaikh said he had informed police that Salman had met with an accident. "But I cannot say why this has not been recorded by police in my statement," the witness said.

Salman was present in the court on Tuesday. His sister Alvira and bodyguard also accompanied him. A battery of lawyers represented the actor but the cross-examination was done by noted lawyer Shrikant Shivade.

On December 5 last year, the court had ordered a fresh trial on the ground that the witnesses had not been examined in the context of aggravated charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which was invoked against the actor midway through the case.

The charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder attracts a 10-year sentence. The actor had earlier been tried by a magistrate for a lesser offence of causing death by negligence, which entailed an imprisonment of two years.

The case, dragging on for over a decade, had taken a twist earlier this year when the magistrate, after examining 17 witnesses, held that the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was made out against Salman and referred the matter to a sessions court, as cases under this offence are tried by a higher court.

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News Network
May 10,2020

Mumbai, May 10: Nearly a month after recovering from the coronavirus, actor Zoa Morani says she has donated her blood plasma to do her bit in helping the patients currently suffering from the novel virus. The actor, who was quarantined and kept under medication in April, also urged those who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma.

"Donated my blood today for the Plasma therapy trials at Nair hospital. It was fascinating! Always a silver lining I suppose. The team there was so enthusiastic and careful. There was a general physician on standby just incase of emergency and the equipment brand new and safe (sic)," Zoa wrote on Instagram on Saturday.

She thanked the doctors for taking care of her and hoped patients benefit from the donation.

"All #Covid19 recovered people can be a part of this trial, to help others covid patients recover! I hope this works #IndiaFightsCorona. They even gave me a certificate and Rs 500. Wont lie, I felt super cool today (sic)," she added.

Zoa, along with her sister Shaza and father, producer Karim Morani had tested positive for coronavirus in April. All three were discharged from the hospital after testing negative last month.

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News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: While people across the country have been spending a lot of time at home owing to the lockdown, superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Saturday provided a unique platform for all the aspiring filmmakers to produce some 'fun, creative and... spooky' video.

The 54-year-old actor shared a statement on Instagram, detailing about the opportunity for the filmmakers to channel their inner "filmmaking ghost to make a scary indoor film with an element of horror in it."

Taking it to the captions, the 'Don' actor wrote: "Since we've all got a bit of time on our hands in quarantine, thought I can get us all to work a bit... in a fun, creative and... spooky way!"

In the post, titled with a hashtag 'SpookSRK,' the actor has listed down the rules to be followed while making the video and shared the email link to submit their work.

The 'Dilwale' actor also announced that the selected "three winners" will get a chance to video call the star himself.

Wrapping the post on a lighter note, he added: "I will be sending in my film as well...P.S - Ghosts are welcome to send their entries too."

This comes a day after the first trailer launch of Shah Rukh's new Netflix horror series 'Betaal'.

SRK's Red Chillies Entertainment is producing the horror-thriller. The new series also stars Vineet Kumar, Aahana Kumra, Suchitra Pillai, Jitendra Joshi, Manjiri Pupala, and Syna Anand.

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News Network
April 4,2020

New Delhi, April 4: Extending a helping hand to curb the spread of coronavirus, superstar Shah Rukh Khan and wife Gauri Khan have offered their personal office space in Mumbai for quarantine purpose for children, elderly and women.

The information was tweeted by the official Twitter handle of BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) on Saturday that thanked the couple for the gesture.

"Stronger together. We thank Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan for offering their 4-storey personal office space to help expand our quarantine capacity equipped with essentials for quarantined children, women and elderly, Indeed a thoughtful and timely gesture!" the tweet read.

Earlier the 54-year-old superstar and his group companies had pledged to donate to a number of relief funds, including the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) fund and the Maharashtra Chief Minister's Relief Fund to combat the coronavirus.

The 'Devdas' actor had taken to Twitter on Thursday and shared that his companies -- Kolkata Knight Riders, Red Chillies Entertainment, Meer Foundation, and Red Chillies VFX -- are taking several initiatives to support the relief efforts.

The Padma Shri awardee also announced that his initial efforts will be focused on three cities -- Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi, "with the realisation that this is a start and we stand ready to contribute in whichever way possible going forward".

Meanwhile, India's tally of coronavirus positive cases rose to 2,902, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

Out of 2,902 cases, 2,650 are active cases and 184 have been cured or discharged or have migrated. The total number of deaths reported due to the disease rose to 68 on Saturday.

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