Saif booked under Assault case/ Kareena speaks out Pg21 - Page 8

Patrons at the tony Wasabi restaurant in Taj were treated to more than sushi rolls late on Tuesday. It became a near war-zone between a family that was looking to celebrate a private occasion and actor Saif Ali Khan who was here socialising with his girlfriend Kareena Kapoor and close family friends.

It resulted in the arrest of Saif Ali Khan, Bilal Amrohi and builder Shakeel Ladakh who were part of the party, and later bailed out after paying a surety of Rs 15,000 each.

The incident happened a little past midnight, when Iqbal Navin Sharma, 44, accompanied by his wife and in-laws, for a quiet dinner to celebrate his wedding anniversary, summoned the manager to request Saif and his friends to keep it down a little. According to the police, Khan, his girlfriend, her sister Karisma Kapur, designer Vikram Phadnis, Amrita Arora and her husband Shakeel Ladakh, Bilal Amrohi and Malaika Arora were having a small but noisy get together at the next table.

"They were shouting and talking so loudly that it was disturbing us. We wanted a little peace and not this hungama. I called the manager and asked him to tell them to lower their voices," said Sharma. The manager conveyed the message to Khan, who paid no heed to it. Subsequently, Sharma and his family decided to shift to another table downstairs and asked the waiters to shift the food as well.

"As we were headed downstairs Saif crossed our path as he was going towards the washroom. Seeing me he stopped and said 'You know something, you are an idiot. If you want some peace go to a library. This place is not for you'," said Sharma. Unable to contain his rage, Sharma screamed back 'You are an idiot'. Following this, Saif turned back and punched Sharma on his nose, sending him flying down the stairs. Seeing his son-in-law in distress, Ramanbhai Patel, 68, came to his rescue and tried to intervene. This resulted in Saif pushing Patel on the ground.

"I landed on the stairs and hurt my head. It was then this friend of Saif (Shakeel Ladakh) charged towards me and punched me hard on the face. Even the girls who were with them did not try to stop them.

They were in fact cheering their friends and hurling abuses at us," recalled Patel.

Subsequently, Khan realised that the situation had gone out of hand when he saw the senior citizen in pain. He apologised but Patel demanded an apology to his son-in-law too. Saif refused and walked out of the restaurant, screaming, "I have been brought up in a very cultured family."

When contacted, Saif said, "There was an ugly incident last night where my friends and the ladies accompanying us were abused and I was assaulted. I was hit and I defended myself. I have been to the police station to abide by the requirements of law as I am a law abiding citizen. I have also filed a complaint about what happened last night and I am confident justice will be done."

Amrita Arora said, "I guess we are paying the price of being celebs and whatever has happened is very unfortunate. They are on TV giving interviews; it's a common case of getting 15 minutes of fame. When you punch one of our guys and abuse the woman on our table, any man would respond in this fashion."

Following the incident, Sharma called up a friend who later drove them to G T Hospital first and then to the Colaba police station. An FIR was registered by 3.30 am.

Sharma and his family run a trade and investment business in South Africa and runs a business there. They are in India on a vacation, residing in Chrysalis building in Juhu. "I didn't even know who he was until the manager told me that he was a well-known actor in Bollywood. I know that he will easily get a bail and the matter will die down. But I will fight it to the end and see that these people are punished," said Sharma.

ACP Iqbal Shaikh said, "Saif, Shakeel and Bilal were detained at their lawyer's office and later officially arrested in the police station, and subsequently released. We are now taking down the statements of the witnesses and the matter is under investigation."

How cops goofed up

Although the FIR was registered at 3.30 am and the complainant insisted that the police act quickly as the actor was drunk at the time, Colaba police allegedly made no quick moves. More than 12 hours after the FIR was registered, Colaba police detained Saif Ali Khan when he visited his lawyer at Raheja Chambers in Nariman Point on Wednesday evening. He was then brought to the police station through the back door.

Sources alleged that a senior Crime Branch officer called up Colaba police station allegedly instructing them not to hurry the arrest and instead give the actor some time to surrender.

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