Saif booked under Assault case/ Kareena speaks out Pg21 - Page 14

MUMBAI: A day after he allegedly beat up a South African businessman at a five-star restaurant, actor Saif Ali Khan insisted he was attacked first and that the episode was not a publicity stunt for an upcoming film. At a press conference on the strategic alliance of his new film Agent Vinod with World Series Hockey, the actor said, "I have already said there are two sides to the story. I have complete faith in the court of law and they will best decide about the case."

Police sources said there was a "strong case" against the actor and his friends, businessman Shakeel Ladak and producer Bilal Amrohi. The three were arrested on Wednesday for assaulting businessman Iqbal Sharma and his father-in-law Raman Patel. They were granted bail at Colaba police station within an hour.

"We have questioned eyewitnesses, including the hotel staff and management. Their statements have corroborated Sharma's version. This is a simple case so far and we will file a chargesheet very soon," said a senior officer involved in the probe.

Saif had filed an application through his lawyer on Wednesday, levelling charges against Sharma. The actor alleged that Sharma and his father-in-law came to his table and started abusing the ladies with him, and started the fight. The application said he was later approached by Sharma's mother-in-law who requested him to forget the matter, saying no one was in their right mind. "We have registered a non-cognizable offence in this matter. However, currently there is no strong evidence in his case. If he gets medical documents to prove he was hurt and assaulted, we will register an FIR," the cop said.

The officer added there was no CCTV footage available as the five-star restaurant had not installed cameras in order to respect the privacy of their guests. "We have no recorded footage of the incident. We have interrogated the hotel staff and taken down their statements. There were only these two parties present in the restaurant at that point so the management and staff are our sole witnesses," said the officer.

Denying the incident was a publicity stunt, Saif said, "I never publicize my film in a negative manner. Whoever does that, it depends on the mentality of the production house and their class."

While Saif is sticking to his stand, saying he has full faith in the law and has filed a complaint with the police alleging he was hit first, so is the complainant. Iqbal Sharma visited the Colaba police station on Thursday evening along with his wife to give a statement to the police. Sources said he left the station by 8pm. Terming Saif's allegation that he was attacked first as "rubbish", Sharma said, "Police have recorded my family's statement in the case." Reiterating that he couldn't say if Saif was under the influence of alcohol, Sharma said, "I can't really say, but the action of Saif that night was definitely not of a person in a sober state of mind." Sharma returns to South Africa on Thursday night but will be back soon.

Asked if he thought the cops have gone easy on the actor, Sharma said, "Not at all, the right thing was done according to the section under which the case was registered." He added police are definitely taking the case seriously and expressed satisfaction with its progress. Senior police inspector Vinod Sawant too denied charges of being lenient towards the actor and his friends. He said Khan had been treated like any ordinary citizen and the police had followed all protocol in his arrest. "We brought him to the police station in a police van, fingerprinted him and took down his statement. There is no question of partiality."

Speaking to TOI, filmmaker Anubhav Sinha said, "I personally know Saif, he is a thorough gentleman. It is inconceivable that he will violently react without serious provocation. It is unfair to run stories against celebrities just because it makes good TRP sense. Let the police do their job." Asked if stars misuse their position, filmmaker Ramesh Taurani said it was the other way and especially during outdoor shootings, stars get harassed by people who want to click photographs of them. "I have worked with Saif. I really don't know what transpired that night but I have never seen Saif losing his cool any time. He is a well-mannered and classy person," Taurani said.

Tajdar Amrohi, whose son Bilal was also arrested and later granted bail on Wednesday, told TOI, "It is an unfortunate incident. The NRIs wanted mileage and have managed to gain it by seeing themselves on national news. I am told the senior gentleman started the scuffle and Saif and his group only reacted. Besides they were also passing filthy comments against the women on Saif's table."

On the allegation that he was trying to gain mileage from the incident, Sharma said, "I don't need such mileage. They need it to be in the public eye."

But Bollywood, which usually voices its opinion on various issues on social networking platforms, chose to remain silent, barring a few like composer Vishal Dadlani. "Let me put it this way. If Saif was provoked or hit first, I think he did what many of us would do. By 'us', I mean myself and you guys. Not condoning or defending violence, but everyone's allowed to be human once in a while, no? I think every right-thinking person should ask this question," Dadlani posted on Twitter.

The Times of India