Vinod Kambli and wife Andrea Hewitt.
Former India cricketer Vinod Kambli and his wife Andrea Hewitt were involved in a ruckus on Sunday afternoon at a shopping mall in Mumbai.
The incident happened when Kambli and his wife Andrea had an altercation with Bollywood music composer Ankur Tiwari and his father RK Tiwari, according to a report in the Mumbai Mirror.
Ankur Tiwari is the brother of Bollywood singer and music director Ankit Tiwari.
According to a report in the Mumbai Mirror, Kambli and wife have claimed that RK Tiwari deliberately brushed his hand against Andrea while the latter has alleged that the cricketer and wife assaulted the 59-year-old with by punching him.
RK Tiwari has also claimed that Andrea took off her sandal to beat him up.
The incident is now being probed by Bangur Nagar police and no arrests have been made so far.
Kambli has said that "an old man inappropriately touched" his wife.
"We were at the Game Zone in the mall around 3 pm when my wife caught hold of an old man's hand. He had deliberately brushed his hand against her and when she caught him in the act, he pushed her away. Minutes later when we were at the food court, two men, who we assume were the man’s sons, tried to attack my wife. When I told them to back off, they told me, 'You don't know who we are'," Kambli told the Mumbai Mirror.
Meanwhile, Kambli's wife has also claimed that RK Tiwari had tried to "touch her inappropriately".
"I was playing with my children when this guy took the opportunity to rub his hand against me. Maybe he thought nothing would happen because it was crowded. When I caught his hand, I was surprised to see this old man. He appeared embarrassed because I had caught him red-handed.
He appeared scared, and said something in Hindi, on the lines that 'I cannot do something like this'. The inappropriate touching ka zamaana is over. Such things should be dealt with strictly," Andrea told the Mumbai Mirror.
On the other hand, Ankur Tiwari has rubbished the claims made by Kambli and his wife.
"My father, a retired bank employee, had accompanied my daughter to the Game Zone. My father told me he spotted Vinod Kambli there, and as he was walking past a woman, he blacked out. My father was disoriented after the attack. He couldn't believe he had been punched, and that a woman was screaming, accusing him of brushing his hand against her. I asked my father to identify the woman, and we realised she was Kambli's wife," Tiwari was quoted as saying by the Mumbai Mirror.
"I told them I wanted to speak with them, but they pushed me and hurled abuses. Kambli's wife removed her sandal and threatened to hit me with it," he added.
Following the incident, the Tiwaris have lodged a complaint against Kambli and his wife at the Bangur Nagar Police Station.
Meanwhile, singer Ankit Tiwari also released a statement later on Monday, denying the claims made by Kambli and his wife.
"It's quite shocking to see this kind of behaviour from a cricketer whose represented our nation, my father being aged has been assaulted by Vinod Kambli's wife and when we went to intervene Kambli pushed us around. Not on any cost are we going to sit tight or take this lightly , this behaviour can not be tolerate, it's happen to us and we hope doesn't happen to anyone else. We have filed a complaint and we have full faith in the judiciary to take action against this (sic)."
