Police grill Salman over car ownership

Actor Salman Khan, who is in police custody in a hit-and-run case, is being grilled by the police about the ownership of the car that he was driving at the time of the accident amid suspicions it was owned by an underworld don.

Following his arrest by the Bandra police on Monday after he was charged with Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, a non-bailable offence, and eight other charges including drunk driving, he was taken before the Metropolitan Magistr-ate who remanded him to three days police custody.

He was then taken to the Santa Cruz police station lock-up in the western suburbs but was reportedly shifted later to the Crime Branch lock-up at Crawford Market.

Meanwhile, it is not clear whether the police have been able to ascertain the owner of the car as the name, Mohammed Abdul Rahim, a resident of Mahim, given to the police has turned out to be fake.

On the basis of documents relating to the ownership of the car, the police tried in vain to trace the address to Kasargode in Kerala but that has also turned out to be a fake address.

The focus on the Salman case continues to be unrelenting with Opposition Leader Narayan Rane from the Shiv Sena accusing a minister from the Democratic Front government of being responsible for the release of Khan on September 28.

"A telephone call from a minister was responsible for Salman's immediate release on a bond of just Rs950," Rane said but refused to reveal the name of the minister.

Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, also in charge of home, angrily denied any minister intervened in the matter.