Drunk Salman was behind the wheel: Hit-and-run eyewitnesses

In a major setback to actor Salman Khan, three eyewitnesses in the 2002 hit-and-run case said that they saw him getting out of his car and fleeing after he had run over a group of people sleeping on the pavement in Mumbai’s suburban Bandra, killing one and injuring four.

Actor Salman Khan was inebriated and in the driver’s seat, testified three eyewitnesses in court in Mumbai on Tuesday in the 2002 hit-and-run case against the actor.

The three witnesses -- Muslim Sheikh and Munnu Khan -- told the court that the actor was so drunk that after the accident when he got out of the car, he fell down and then fled from the scene. It is to be noted that Salman’s lawyers have argued that the actor was not driving at the time of the accident.

The 47-year-old star was present in court when the eyewitnesses made their statements on Tuesday.

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Salman is facing the charge of running his Toyota Land Cruiser over a group of persons sleeping on a footpath outside a bakery in Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one and injuring four others.

On December 5 last year, the court had ordered a fresh trial on the ground that the witnesses had not been examined in the context of aggravated charge of culpable homicide, which was invoked against the actor midway through the proceedings.

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The charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder attracts a 10-year sentence. The actor had earlier been tried by a magistrate for the lesser offence of causing death by negligence, which entailed imprisonment of two years.

The case, which has been dragging on for over a decade, had taken a twist earlier this year when the magistrate, after examining 17 witnesses, held that the charge of culpable homicide could be made out against Salman and referred the matter to a sessions court, as cases under this offence are tried by a higher court.