Mumbai
The witness denied the allegations that he had come into the picture now because he received money from Salman to take the blame.
Updated : Mar 31, 2015, 06:40 AM IST
"Mujhe hamesha bohot bura lagta tha, ki mere galti ke wajah se bhai ko court aana padta tha, magar mujhe pata nahi tha ki kya karna hain (I always used to feel bad that due to my mistake, Salman Bhai had to attend court, but I did not know what I was supposed to do)," said actor Salman Khan's driver Ashok Singh, who on Monday said that it was he and not Salman who was responsible for the accident in 2002, in which one person died and four were injured.
The driver made this claim while deposing in court for the first time at the fag end of the hit-and-run trial against Salman. Singh said that the accident was caused because one of the car's front tyres had burst, due to which it landed on the steps of a Bandra bakery.
While deposing in a sessions court presided over by Justice D W Deshpande, Singh said that on the September 27, 2002, he had received a call from Altaaf, Khan's other driver, saying that he was feeling giddy and hence to reach J W Marriott and pick up Salman, his friend Kamaal Khan and his security guard Ravindra Patil. Singh left from his Andheri house and reached the hotel.
"I was on my way to drop Bhai (Salman) at his residence. The front left tyre of the Land cruiser burst, because of which the steering became hard. I tried applying the brakes, but by that time it had already climbed up the steps of the bakery. We got down and could hear noise beneath our car. When we checked, I found people trapped beneath the car. But I could not say how many were trapped. After waiting for five to ten minutes Patil and I left the spot.
Bhai had already left by then. I went straight to the police station and informed them about the incident but they did not pay attention and made me sit on a bench. I spend the entire night in the police station. The next day at around 4.30 pm, Bhai came to the police station after completing his blood tests. When he sought bail, I left the police station with him," said Singh.
The prosecution asked Singh why he did not mention that he was the behind the accident and not his 'bhai' either to the police or media earlier. Singh replied that he was unaware of how to approach them.
When special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat quizzed Singh why he came and deposed on Monday, Singh said, "Saleem Saab (Saleem Khan) told me to depose the truth before the court."
The witness denied the allegations that he had come into the picture now because he received money from Salman to take the blame.
The court is likely to start hearing final arguments in the case on April 1.