Mumbai: The Bandra police will submit their report in court today on their investigations into a complaint by a witness in the 2002 Salman Khan hit-and-run case. In his complaint, Muslim Niyamat Sheikh one of the four people injured when the actor’s car rammed into the American Express Bakery in Bandra has alleged that his former lawyer Mukesh Pandey offered him a bribe of Rs. 5 lakh to reverse his testimony in the case.
Mid-day had reported on Sheikh’s complaint on May 7. He alleged he had received two phone calls he was offered the money in the first one, and he didn’t answer the second. The court then ordered the Bandra police to submit a report in the next hearing, which is today. Based on the report, the court will decide whether to admit the plaint. Sheikh and two others testified on May 6, saying they had seen the actor get down from his Toyota Land Cruiser after the accident on Hill Road that killed one.
Police sources said they have taken Pandey’s statement four pages long in which he has denied the accusation. However, he accepted that several calls were exchanged between him and Sheikh. He said a cop that since Sheikh stays in UP, he calls him up before every hearing.
Police had traced the number from which Sheikh received the calls to Pandey, and call records prove there was an exchange of calls. But since there are no recordings of the conversation, proving the allegation would be difficult, and Pandey would likely get a clean chit, sources said.
When contacted, Advocate Mukesh Pandey said, “Muslim is lying. There was no call made from my phone to his number on the day he is claiming an unknown person called. “In fact, he was the one to call me every now then, asking, ‘Sir, main phans toh nahi jaunga naa case mein’. I remember one day I had 13 missed calls from him.
I have been his lawyer for 10 years. How can he make such claims? I have recorded my statement with the police, along with some documents.” Asked if he’d be present in court on Monday, he said, “Why should I? The Bandra police are supposed to submit the report. I am not required to be in court.
Bureau Report
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