Witness to be grilled in Salman hit-and-run case

Shaikh had told the court that he and a few others were sleeping on the footpath when a car had hit the bakery.

A court in Mumbai hearing a hit-and-run case involving actor Salman Khan on Wednesday allowed the prosecution to cross-examine a key witness who had contradicted a statement made to police during his deposition.

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The witness, Mohammed Abdulla Rauf Shaikh, is one of four persons who was injured in the mishap when the actor allegedly rammed his car into a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002.

Earlier, Shaikh had told the court that he and a few others were sleeping on the footpath when a car had hit the bakery, injuring them.

While giving evidence in court, Shaikh had disowned a crucial portion of his earlier statement to the police, saying he had not seen Salman getting out from the driver's seat of the car.

In his statement to police, however, he had said he had seen the actor getting out from the driver's seat after the accident.

Shaikh had told the court that he had heard people saying Salman car se bahar niklo (Salman come out of the car) but he himself did not see the actor as he was underneath the vehicle that rammed into the bakery.

Salman is charged with killing one person and injuring four others in the incident.