Witness Identifies Sallu in Hit and Run Case

Salman Khan is being retried for culpable homicide not amounting to murder

Witnesses have identified Bollywood actor Salman Khan as having been drunk and exited the car from the driver's side in the 2002 hit-and-run case. Mr Khan is being retried for culpable homicide not amounting to murder in a Mumbai court. If convicted, he could face a jail sentence of upto 10 years. (Also read: Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar in Fugly Title Track )

The actor, dressed in jeans and a striped shirt, is in court accompanied by sisters Alvira and Arpita. (Also read: Salman Kicked about Poland as destination for Bollywood producers)

The first eyewitness in the case, 24-year-old Mohd Muslim Shaikh, confirmed Salman's identity and testified that he saw Salman Khan getting off the car on the night of the fateful incident. He said, "The incident took place at 2:45 am.

We were sleeping there when we heard a sound. I saw a car and the wheels ran over my left leg. Many people gathered. People were saying Salman Khan got off the car. I saw the car. It was a white colour car and a big car. Salman Khan got off the car and people caught him. One policeman got off the left side of the car. Abdul, Munnu and others were beneath the car. Salman Khan got of the right side of the car."

However, the lawyer defending Salman countered that the witness has deposed in the past where he had testified that he did not see anyone getting of the court. Hence, according to him, both versions could not stand together.

In his testimony, the second Witness Munnu Khan, a resident of Mumbai's Ghatkopar West, said he got trapped underneath a car on the night of September 28, 2002 and saw Salman getting down from the driver's side. He said, "I saw Salman Khan get down from the driver's side. His bodyguard got down from the other side. One person got down from the car."

On December 5 last year, the court ordered a fresh trial after the charges against the actor were enhanced to culpable homicide not amounting to murder. After several delays, the retrial began on April 29 with the partial deposition of one witness.(Also read: Salman Kicked about Poland as destination for Bollywood producers)

Mr Khan was earlier being tried for the lesser offence of causing death by negligence, which carries a punishment of upto two years in jail.

In September 2002, Mr Khan was allegedly driving a Toyota Land Cruiser that ran over a group of people sleeping on the pavement outside a bakery in suburban Bandra. One person was killed and four others were injured in the accident.

The case has gone from court to court with arguments centred around whether Mr Khan was driving the car that day or not. The Mumbai police say they have enough evidence against him.

In 1998, Salman Khan spent three days in prison for killing black buck, an endangered species of deer, in Rajasthan. The actor's appeals in separate poaching cases are currently pending in the Rajasthan courts.

The 48-year-old actor has starred in some of Bollywood's highest-earning films in the last five years. He last appeared in January's Jai Ho, co-starring debutante Daisy Shah and was recently shooting for his movie Kick in Poland.