Hotel brawl: Assault case against Saif Ali Khan, arrest inevitable

Saif Ali Khan landed in trouble over a mid-night brawl at a luxury hotel in Mumbai during which he allegedly punched an NRI businessman that led police to file an assault case against the Bollywood actor whose arrest was inevitable.

The police have registered an FIR against 41-year-old Khan and his friends under sections 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intent) of IPC and are looking for him, but the actor is unreachable. The offences are bailable.

In the fracas at the Wasabi restaurant at Taj Hotel, the man identified as Iqbal Sharma, a South African businessman of Indian origin, was left with a broken nose.

The incident, according to the complaint registered by Sharma with the Colaba police station, occurred just past midnight when Khan along with his girlfriend actress Kareena Kapoor and some others were having dinner at the restaurant.

According to Sharma, Khan and those accompanying him were talking loudly while seated at an adjacent table. When Sharma walked up to them and objected to their talking loudly, an argument ensued leading to a fracas during which he was allegedly assaulted by Khan, leaving him with a bleeding and fractured nose.

Assistant Commisssioner of police Iqbal Shaikh told reporters that the complainant went to the G T Hospital following the incident and then reported the matter to the police around 2.30am.

"His (Khan's) arrest is inevitable as it is a cognizable offence, but it is a bailable offence," Shaikh said, adding the actor can be enlarged on bail by the police and will not have to approach the court for it.

He will, however, have to surrender and be arrested before the bail is granted, Shaikh said.

"The section under which he has been booked is bailable. He has to come with a surety and if we find that the surety is a sound surety, we will grant him bail," the ACP said. More

Shaikh said a police team was despatched to the actor's Bandra residence but he was not present there and his mobile phone was also switched off.