Chote Nawab Saif Ali Khan ka bada mukka; actor gets bail

Mumbai: While dining out with lady love Kareena Kapoor on Wednesday night at Wasabi at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel in Mumbai, Saif Ali Khan thwacked an NRI businessman, Iqbal Sharma, also dining at the same restaurant. Saif and Kareena had gone there with a group of friends, which included Kareena’s joined-at-the-hip BFF, Amrita Arora-Ladak; her husband, Shakeel Ladak; and elder sister Malaika Arora-Khan. A verbal and allegedly physical altercation ensued over a simple matter of the businessman asking Saif and company to keep their voices down. Things turned ugly with the businessman getting a bloody nose and reporting the matter to the Colaba police station. Saif was later arrested and was released by the police on bail after being charged with assaulting Sharma. The 41-year-old actor and his friends, Shakeel Ladak and Bilal Amrohi, were booked under sections 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intent) of the IPC. The three were brought to the Colaba police station around 8 pm in a police vehicle and whisked inside through the rear entrance amid large media and public presence. All three were released on bail after the completion of formalities that took about an hour, police said. Saif had left his lawyer’s office at Gamdevi in his own car but boarded the police vehicle near Nariman Point where he and others were arrested before being brought to the police station. The Taj Palace & Tower GM Mr Gaurav Pokhriyal has issued orders that no statement be issued from the hotel’s staff regarding this matter, confirming or negating the alleged assault. The diplomatic sisters, Amrita Arora-Ladak and Malaika Arora-Khan, who are close to the couple, did not answer any queries on the matter. [caption id=“attachment_222228” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Saif Ali Khan outside Colaba Police station. Raju Shelar/ Firstpost”]  [/caption] Police officers from the Colaba police station went to Saif’s Bandra residence in the morning regarding the matter, but could not find him. The hawaldar at the police station told Firstpost, “We don’t know when Saif will come to the police station. It depends on him. Our officers went in the morning and we don’t know anything as yet,” said the hawaldar. According to the complaint, the actor accosted Sharma near the staircase at the entrance of the restaurant and after some heated arguments, punched him on the nose, causing a fracture. Sharma, who is the former Director General and CEO of trade, industry and investment of South Africa, alleged that even his 68-year-old father-in-law, who tried to intervene, was not spared by Khan and his friends who rained blows on them. Sharma, currently Chairman and CEO of ISSAR Company, later went to GT Hospital for a medical examination and reported the matter to the police at around 2.30 this morning, following which the complaint was registered against the actor. If convicted, Saif and the others could be punished with imprisonment up to seven years, besides fine. With inputs from PTI