Salman did hit-and-run, says prosecution

In a bid to prove that the 13-year-old road accident involving Salman Khan was a case of hit-and-run, the prosecution on Tuesday, said the actor vanished from the scene instead of helping the victims.

“Conduct of the accused needs to be analysed, interpreted…and this proves the guilt of the accused,” special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said while rendering final arguments before additional sessions judge D W Deshpande.

To prove his point, Gharat cited the testimony of two witnesses – Francis Fernandes, who is a friend of Khan and stays in the locality where the accident took place and Ramashray Pandey. “From the statements of the two witnesses it is clear that the accused has run away from the spot,” he said, and also pointed out that the accident happened at a “sharp turn” and the accused did not realise the turn because of influence of liquor.

The prosecutor said that Fernandes and his wife Maria came out of their house after hearing the noise. “He is a friend of the accused, he saved the accused from the wrath of the public,” he said.

According to the statement of Fernandes, the prosecutor recalled, two persons were armed with rods and other with stones. “Had the driver witness (Ashok Singh) been there at spot, it would have been different. Would the mob spared the driver and attacked Salman….man may lie, but circumstances do not,” he said once again rejecting the evidence of Salman’s family driver,  who had at the fag end of the trial taken the blame for the accident. He added that, because of the threat, Fernandes managed to stop a car and the three – Salman, his friend and singer Kamaal Khan and bodyguard Ravindra Patil – left in that. “This shows that they have not helped the people who were trapped below the car,” he said.

Coming to the testimony of Pandey, he said that the witness has said that he has seen Salman getting down from the right side of the car. “He had also brought this to light that Salman and two others (Kamaal and Patil) left in a car,” he said.

‘Commander, save me’
The prosecution also said that moments after the accident, Salman sought help from his friend Fernandes, whom he calls ‘Commander’. “‘Commander, save me’ – the accused had said and sought help from his friend,” Gharat told the court.

The prosecution also indicated that it would recommend action against R S Keskar, an official of the RTO, who could not identify automotive parts, as a witness in the case. “He sabotaged his own evidence to help the defence…I will recommend action against him,” Gharat told the court.