Two more witnesses identify Salman Khan in accident case

Two more witnesses Monday identified Bollywood actor Salman Khan as being present at the scene of the 2002 hit-and-run accident as he appeared in court where the retrial of the case is underway.

A witness, identified as Rizwan, a manager with the Rain Bar, informed the court that Salman and his friends had ordered food and drinks which were served at their table that night.

Rizwan told public prosecutor Jagannath Kenjalkar that he saw the actor holding a glass with a colourless liquid like water in it, but he was not sure what it was and did not see Salman drinking it.

"I am not sure whether Khan himself consumed the drink as the order was taken by a waiter," he said.

Later, between 1.15 and 1.30 a.m., Rizwan went to see off Salman and his friends to the door but the actor was walking normally and did not smell of liquor, he added.

In the cross-examination by Khan's lawyer Shrikant Shivade, Rizwan said that from his cabin, he could not see who was having food and drinks as the lighting in the restaurant was dim.

Another witness, Ramashray Pandey, owner of a dairy shop near the scene of the accident, said that he saw Salman alighting out of the front seat of his car after the accident that night in Bandra suburb in which one pavement dweller was killed and four others injured.

He said that the actor's police bodyguard Ravindra Patil (who is now dead) was already outside the vehicle and there was a huge commotion in the area.

"People were shouting 'accident, accident' and some people were under the SUV and crying for help," he said, adding that some others were trying to pull free the car's front door which was stuck in the laundry shutter while some pelted stones at the vehicle.

The two witnesses' testimony came after the hearing resumed in the retrial of the hit-and-run case against Salman in which he is facing an additional charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder which attracts a 10-year jail term.

Last month, three other witnesses had testified before the court and also identified the actor in the case in which the retrial started April 28.

Salman is accused of driving his SUV onto a pavement in Bandra on Sep 28, 2002, killing one person and injuring four others.

In December 2013, a Mumbai court ordered a retrial in the case.