New Delhi: Singer Kamaal Khan, a key witness who was present inside the car that killed one person and injured four in Bandra on September 28, 2002, has for the first time revealed that actor Salman Khan was not driving the car at the time of accident.
In an interview from London to Rajat Sharma in his show Aaj Ki Baat telecast on India TV last night, Kamaal Khan said, the prosecution's claim that he had given a statement to Mumbai Police saying Salman was driving the car was "a lie".
Asked who was the driving the car that night, Kamaal Khan replied: "I cannot make any statement right now through the media. It will then become a trial by the media, and it has been so since the beginning in this hit-and-run case."
Kamaal Khan rejected the contention of Mumbai Police that he was unreachable in London.
"Look, whatever I have heard about the case is through the media. First, it was reported in media that Kamaal Khan has vanished. It is impossible, because my address and telephone number in the United Kingdom have remained unchanged for last 25 years. So I don't understand, why these people are saying Kamaal Khan has vanished."
Asked whether he had travelled to India during the pendency of the case, Kamaal Khan said: "Yes, I had been going and coming, but after the accident I had several difficulties in getting my visa applications approved. My visa applications were rejected several times. ..I am supposed to the star witness for the prosecution, but my visa applications were rejected."
Asked why the prosecution was unwilling to reach him, Kamaal Khan replied: "Firstly, it came in the media that Kamaal Khan has given statement to the police that Salman Khan was driving the car. This is a total lie. I never gave any such statement. Secondly, the prosecution did not call me, though I am here (in the UK) since 2008. Moreover, as to who was driving the car, the matter is right now sub judice, and it will not be right for me disclose now. I can this much only that I never gave the statement that Salman Khan was driving the car."
It may be recalled that actor Salman Khan's lawyer Amit Desai told the Bombay High Court on Tuesday that Kamaal Khan was not an absconding witness but wanted to depose in the case.
Also Read: PRDP and Bajrangi Bhaijaan: Rs 500 crores, 2 movies and 1 Salman Khan!
Desai had told the High Court that the prosecution was reluctant to question Kamaal as a witness and so, it lied all through the trial about its attempts to question him.
Desai was responding to the 18-page reply submitted by the prosecution on Monday, in which special public prosecutor Sandeep Shinde had submitted that the police and state made repeated attempts to reach out to Kamaal after the accident, but he evaded them by fleeing first to Lonavala and then to London.
However, Desai told the High Court that the prosecution never thought it fit to question Kamaal after the accident, even though he had appeared before the magistrate's court thrice in 2008 — on August 25, September 10 and November 12 — to seek permission to visit the UK.
Shinde, however, told the High Court that the prosecution could not be expected to “go around the world looking for witnesses.”
