Saif arrested after hotel brawl, gets bail

Mumbai : Saif Ali Khan was on Wednesday night arrested for allegedly punching an NRI businessman and his relative at a restaurant in a luxury hotel here. He was immediately bailed out.

The actor and two friends were booked for allegedly assaulting Iqbal Sharma, a South African national of Indian origin, at Wasabi-a Japanese restaurant in the Taj Mahal hotel-on Tuesday night after the latter told the actor’s gang to keep the noise level down. Khan was dining with 10 friends, including girlfriend Kareena Kapoor and actor Amrita Arora.

Sharma-a trade official with the South African government-told the police Khan’s table was very noisy and when he objected, the actor suggested he go to a library if he wanted silence. Sharma finally decided to change tables himself but when he was moving, Khan threatened him. "He said, ‘you don’t know who I am’. He used abusive language and when the argument furthered, he punched me on my nose," Sharma said.

"When my father-in-law tried to intervene, he punched him twice on his face and stomach," he said. Sharma said his 68-year-old father-in-law, Raman Patel, fell to the floor. "I lifted him up but… a man accompanying Khan came running down, punched my father-in-law in the face and ran back."

"On Sharma’s complaint, we have booked Saif and two friends under section 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of the IPC," said Vinod Sawant, senior police inspector at Colaba police station.

The 41-year-old actor and his friends surrendered at the police station around 8pm. They were bailed out an hour later.

Khan said in a statement: "I was hit and I defended myself… I think the restaurant has CCTV footage, which will prove everything."