Salman Khan hit-and-run case: Constable retracts statement

MUMBAI: In his deposition before the sessions court which is conducting the trial of the 2002 hit-and-run case allegedly involving Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, a police constable today contradicted his own statement recorded before the magistrate.

"I had taken two bottles of blood sample of the accused (Khan) in an envelope to the forensic lab," the constable said during a cross-examination by defence lawyer Srikant Shivade.

The witness had said earlier, when examined by the Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat, that he had taken the blood sample from Bandra police station to the lab.

However, during the cross-examination, he denied that he had carried the blood vials in an iron container; he said he carried them in an envelope. He also denied having told the Magistrate that the packet of blood sample had been sealed.

"I have not told this to the Magistrate (about iron container or sealed packet) and cannot say why he recorded it," the witness added.

The constable said he took the samples to the lab on September 30, 2002, two days after the mishap in which the actor's car had rammed into a bakery in suburban Bandra, killing one person and injuring four others sleeping outside.

At the next hearing, on February 16, a sub-inspector of police, who had accompanied Salman to J J Hospital for the blood test after the mishap, would be examined.

The trial is being conducted on day-to-day basis. More than 20 witnesses have already been examined and a few more are left. The judge has asked the prosecution to wrap up the examinations as speedily as possible.