After the hit-and-run mishap of September 28, 2002, Bollywood actor Salman Khan became untraceable but he was later arrested on the same day from a lawyer's house, a police officer who investigated the case told the trial court today.
The officer, Kishan Shengal, who has now retired, also told sessions judge D W Deshpande that he had booked Khan for 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder'.
The prosecution's case is that Khan's Land Cruiser had rammed into a bakery in suburban Bandra in the wee hours on that day, killing one person and injuring four who were sleeping on the pavement.
"After registering the FIR, I went to Khan's house but did not find him there. I also went to the gym behind his house and searched his garage but could not find him. I then informed my seniors," the officer said, replying to a question by Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat.
The officer further said that at around 9 am he received a tip-off that Khan was likely to visit a lawyer's house in Almeida Park in Bandra west.
As the police did not know the address, they had to search for it. "When we went to the advocate's house, we found Salman there and brought him to Bandra police station. He was arrested thereafter," Shengal said.
After his arrest, Khan was sent for medical examination to Bhabha hospital to determine whether he was driving under the influence of liquor. But the hospital did not have the facility to collect blood sample, so he was taken to the government-run J J Hospital, he said.
The officer also stated that Salman had purchased the vehicle -- an SUV -- from a non-resident Indian based in Dubai who had given his Mumbai address as 'Shiv Kripa Building, Mahim'. However, the address turned out to be bogus.
Shengal would be cross-examined on March 17 by Khan's lawyer Srikant Shivade.
