Salman was drunk during hit-and-run mishap: Court

The test report said 62 mg of alcohol was found from the blood sample of Salman which was in excess of the permissible limit.

D K Bhalshankar,the chemical analyst,yesterday stuck to his statement given to the police after the incident that the actor was drunk at the time of the mishap.

In his deposition,Bhalshankar described how he had conducted the test at Kalina Forensic Laboratory. He would be cross examined on July 15 by Salman’s lawyer Dipesh Mehta.

Salman,44,had surrendered to police eight hours after the mishap at 2.45 a.m. His blood sample was obtained at 2 p.m.

The prosecution has cited 64 witnesses in the case and many of them have already deposed. Among them is Ravindra Patil,bodyguard of Salman,who later died in 2007.

Patil had deposed earlier saying that Salman was on the wheel and he was drunk. He further said he had asked the actor not to drink that night as it may prove dangerous while driving but Salman did not pay heed to his advice.

The victims who were injured in the incident had also deposed saying they had seen the actor getting down from the driver’s seat after the mishap.

The trial court had framed charges against the actor which included culpable homicide not amounting to murder but this charge was dropped later. However,the actor was tried for other charges including rash and negligent driving for which maximum punishment is two years.

Noorulla Mahboob Sharif had died in the mishap while Abdul Rauf Shaikh,Kalim Mohammed Pathan and Munna Malai Khan were injured.