Saif: I too was assaulted, acted in self-defence

Says he has filed a counter complaint against the NRI businessman

Actor Saif Ali Khan, who was arrested by the Mumbai police here on Wednesday night for assaulting a Non-Resident Indian from South Africa, was granted bail on a surety of Rs. 15,000. He later told reporters that he had filed a counter-complaint against the businessman.

Nose fractured

The police registered a case against the actor and his two friends at around 3 a.m. on Wednesday after Iqbal Navin Sharma (44) complained at the Colaba police station that they had engaged in a fight with him and his father-in-law and that Mr. Khan's fist blow fractured his nasal bone.

The complainant told reporters that he and his family had gone to Wasabi restaurant at the Taj Mahal hotel on Tuesday night for dinner.

Mr. Khan and 10-12 friends, including Malaika Khan, Amrita Arora and fianc?e Kareena Kapoor, were dining there.

“Talking loudly”

“They were talking loudly so we asked the management to tell them to talk softly,” Mr. Sharma said.

Police said the actor retorted that the complainant should go to a library if he wanted peace. The incident happened at around 12.30 a.m.

Mr. Sharma said that Mr. Khan and his friends also assaulted his 69-year-old father-in-law.

FIR lodged

“The argument started over a small issue and there was a fight. The complainant, after receiving treatment at GT Hospital, came to the police station to register the complaint. We have lodged an FIR against Saif and two unknown persons under sections 34 and 325 of IPC [Indian Penal Code],” Iqbal Sheikh, Assistant Commissioner of Police, told reporters.

Section 325 pertains to causing grievous hurt to a person and is a bailable offence.

Phone switched off

Police teams launched a search for him. Mr. Khan's cell phone was switched of and the police could not directly get in touch with him.

Arrested from lawyer's chamber

Mr. Khan was arrested from his lawyer's chamber in Nariman Point and was brought to the Colaba station for recording his statement.

The two friends who were also charged in the FIR are Shakil Ladakh and Bilal Amrohi. They too have been granted bail.

Meanwhile, Mr. Khan told reporters late in the night that he acted in self-defence and that the trader too had assaulted and abused him.