Salman Khan didn't smell of alcohol next morning, witness tells court

"I met Salman on the next day morning at 9.30 at his place and hugged him, and he did not smell of alcohol," said Alok Pandey, brother of actor Chunky Pandey, who appeared before the court as a witness in actor's Salman Khan's 2002 hit-and-run case.

Pandey was first examined by special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat. It was during the cross examination that he told the court that Khan hadn't smelled of alcohol when he (Pandey) hugged him the next day.

According to the prosecution, Khan, in Sept 2002, rammed his car into pavement dwellers who were sleeping outside a bakery in Bandra, killing a person and injuring four others.

Pandey, answering the questions put by defence lawyer Shrikant Shivade, informed the court that the junction near American Express Bakery, where the accident took place, has always been known to be busy with slow vehicular movement.

Advocate Gharat then asked him whether there was heavy traffic in that junction 24 hours, to which Pandey said the road was not always stuck with traffic.

Pandey, in his statement, claimed that he was the one who had helped the actor buy the vehicle. However at the time when it met with the accident, the vehicle was still in the name of the customs clearing agent Mohamed Abdul Rehman.

Meanwhile, another witness, Salim Patel, a customs clearing agent, who had helped the actor in getting the car cleared from Customs after it had been imported from Dubai, also recorded his statement before the court.
The court has posted the matter to November 24.