No CCTV footage of Saif 'brawl'

The police investigating the high-profile “scuffle” has not been able to ferret out any CCTV footage depicting the brawl between actor Saif Ali Khan and South African trade lobbyist Iqbal Sharma in a five-star hotel, opposite the Gateway of India.

The actor, who was arrested and released on bail on Wednesday night after much brouhaha following a police complaint against him, later filed a counter-complaint against Sharma.

The actor on Thursday afternoon, held a press conference in a five-star hotel in Bandra-Kurla area, vehemently protesting against the “disinformation and slander,” stating: “ I am extremely sorry for what happened...it was not a publicity stunt...I acted in self-defence and I got hit on the eye and his nose doesn’t look like broken.”

The actor also reiterated that he was not drunk and has “ lodged an official police complaint as it was me who got hit first. I wish I could have handled the situation in a better way but it didn’t happen.”

The South African lobbyist had complained that after repeated requests to the actor to tone down “boisterous behaviour”, he and his father-in-law were “pummelled without any provocation”, when he decided to shift to another floor of the restaurant.

Talking to Deccan Herald, Assistant Police Commissioner (ACP-Colaba Region) Iqbal Shaikh said that since both the sides have complained against each other, “We have not found any CCTV footage so we are piecing together the entire incident through checking the veracity of statements of people present on the scene. We have already recorded statements of 15 witnesses including that of Sharma’s father-in-law, mother-in-law, his two friends, waiter who was present, bar manager who was on duty and Saif’s driver.”

ACP Shaikh said that the police has so far not been able to record the statements of actresses Kareena, Karishma, Malaika, Amrita and other friends who were present. “But their statements will be recorded soon,” he said.