I was driving, says Salman Khan''s driver

Mumbai, March 30

Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s driver told the sessions court on Monday that he was driving that car that was involved in hit-and-run accident which killed one person was killed and injured four others in 2002.

(See Video: Hit-and-run case: Salman's driver says he was driving the car)

Khan, charged by the police with ramming his Landcruiser into a bakery in suburban Bandra in a drunken state on September 28, 2002, had told the court last week that his driver Ashok Singh, now 42, was driving the car. It was the first time he made this disclosure.

Singh, appearing as a defence witness, corroborated Khan's version and described how the accident occurred.

"A tyre burst and the car was dragged to the left....I tried to turn the steering wheel but it was hard, then I tried to apply brakes but by then the car had climbed the steps of bakery.

 I was in a state of shock and Salman was sitting on the left side. He tried to open the door but it was jammed. He got down from my side, which was on the right," said Singh, replying to questions asked by Khan’s lawyer Shrikant Shivade.

Altaf, another driver who worked for Khan, had called him on phone at 1.30 am that day, asking him to pick up the actor at the J W Marriot hotel as the actor was unwell.

Singh said he reached the hotel in auto-rickshaw and saw the actor sitting on the driver's side with engine running and air-conditioning on. Singh got into the driver's seat, with Khan on his left and his friend Kamal Khan and constable Ravindra Patil, the actor's police bodyguard, sat behind, he said. Altaf had left for the day.

Singh said he called the police, then went to Bandra police station to inform them about the accident. Khan was arrested when he arrived at the site of the accident.

Singh also claimed the arrested he suspected something was wrong when the police did not note down his complaint

Singh claimed he has been working for the actor’s father, scriptwriter Salim Khan, since 1990 and denied he was paid money to make the confessional statement before the court. Singh still works for the Khans.

Asked why he kept quiet all these years, Singh said he did not know what to do and he came to the court now on Salim Khan’s advice.

Singh's version contradicts that of constable Ravindra Patil, who first filed the complaint: the cop, who died of TB during trial, claimed the actor caused the accident in a drunken state.

Singh is the first defence witness to depose. Khan's lawyer said he would inform the court on Tuesday if he wanted to examine more witnesses. The hearing was adjourned to April 1.

This is a fresh trial after a magistrate's court added the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which attracts imprisonment up to ten years, against the actor.

Previously, Khan only faced the charge of rash and negligent driving, which provides for a jail term up to two years. — PTI