Dubai: Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, accused of breaking a man’s nose in a Mumbai restaurant, has filed a counter complaint saying that he acted in self-defence and that he had been hit and verbally abused first.
On Wednesday, police registered a case against the Agent Vinod star for allegedly assaulting Iqbal Sharma, a South African businessman of Indian origin at an upscale restaurant in Mumbai. Sharma claimed that the actor had punched him in the nose and assaulted his father-in-law when he asked Khan and his friends to lower their voices. Khan was arrested on Wednesday night in Mumbai and immediately released on bail.
Khan said the brawl began when his girlfriend, actress Kareena Kapoor, and other companions were verbally abused by fellow diners at the Wasabi Japanese restaurant in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel.
“There was an ugly incident where my friends and the ladies with us were abused and I was assaulted,” Khan told AFP by email, in his first reaction to the incident on Tuesday evening.
“I was hit and I defended myself,” he added.
“I was hit first. I acted in self-defence,” the actor told reporters outside his Mumbai residence early Thursday morning.
“I am a law-abiding citizen. All allegations against me are false and justice will be done,” he added.
However, the actor expressed remorse at the way the situation was handled and that he had adopted a more ‘Gandhian’ approach.
“I could have reacted differently. I could have been a little more Gandhian in my approach. But I’m afraid I reacted in a way any gentleman would have reacted. But I’m not proud of what happened. It could have been handled differently. I should have set a better example. I’m sorry that I reacted this way,” he said.
When asked if he was drunk at that time, he said he was not under the influence of alcohol and requested the media to be unbiased in their reportage.
“There’s a certain slant in the press,” he said. He also claimed that he never touched the elderly gentleman.
“I wish all this had been handled differently.” The police are now investigating the claims made by both parties and are looking for the CCTV footage from the restaurant.
Meanwhile, several conspiracy theories are being floated saying that this episode was orchestrated to create publicity for Khan’s forthcoming production Agent Vinod. Reports also claim that Sharma’s neighbour has alleged that Sharma and Khan are “old friends”.
