Victim died after car bumper fell on him, says Salman's defence

Tendering the bumper of the Toyota Land Cruiser Lexus as a piece of evidence before the Bombay High Court, the defence team of Salman Khan on Friday sought to establish that one of the victims in the accident died after the vehicle’s bumper detached as it was lifted by a crane.

In the accident on September 28, 2002, one person Nurullah Mehboob Sharif was killed while four others, Muslim Nimayat Shaikh (PW-2), Mannu Khan (PW-3), Mohammed Kalim Iqbal Pathan (PW-4) and Mohammed Abdullah Shaikh (PW-11), were injured.

While he argued, defence counsel Amit Desai showed to Justice A R Joshi, the damaged bumper.

“It was not a frontal hit. The left side has scratched the shutter. Thereafter, to help out those who were beneath the car, according to the evidence of PW-26 (police inspector Rajendra Genbapu Kadam), a crane was brought. It has also come on record that the bumper slipped away,” he said.  According to him, PW-11 has told the court that till the car was lifted the victim was alive and crying for help.

“This proves two things — one, that Nurulla was alive after the accident. Second, it was not a frontal hit as the bumper was intact... then the rescue operation started and the crane was called,” he said.

He pointed out that the car hit the shutter of American Express Laundry on the left side and there was a scratch mark.