Salman's bodyguard remanded to JC

Ravindra Patil, former bodyguard of actor Salman Khan and an eyewitness in a hit-and-run case, was today remanded to judicial custody till March 16 by a local court which also cancelled non-bailable warrant issued against him for not deposing during the trial.

Patil was arrested from Mahableshwar on March 10 as the court had issued non-bailable warrant against him for not appearing in the case in which Salman is accused of killing one person and injuring four by ramming his car into a bakery in Bandra on September 28, 2002.

As Patil appeared today, magistrate J B Pankhe cancelled his warrant and remanded him to judicial custody, when the trial would resume.

After his arrest, Crime Branch sleuths brought Patil to Mumbai. He has been lodged in Bandra jail and will be produced again before the court on March 16.

Patil had tendered evidence before the court but his cross-examination is pending, Salman's lawyer Dipesh Mehta told PTI. Patil's deposition is considered significant because he was accompanying Salman when the actor met with an accident. He is not only an eyewitness but also complainant in the case.