JOIN USA witness in the hit-and-run case involving Salman Khan on Thursday said he had received 6 ml of blood sample of the Bollywood actor, however, when he measured, he found it to contain only 4 ml. Bala Shankar, a chemical analyst, said he has no idea why it was 2 ml short.
Khan, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, ran his Toyata Land Cruiser over some pavement dwellers in Bandra, killing one and injuring four, on September 28, 2002. Khan, who was earlier tried for a lesser offence of causing death by negligence that provides for a maximum punishment of two years in jail, now stands trial under a more stringent law on culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304-II of the IPC that attracts a jail term of up to 10 years.
During the cross-examination by Khan’s lawyer Srikant Shivade, the witness could not explain the reason for the mismatch between the sample received and sample measured. The cross-examination would continue on Friday.
On December 3 last year, Shankar had told the court that he found 62 mg of ethyl alcohol in the blood sample of 100 m. He said that 30 mg of ethyl alcohol is the permissible limit while driving – anymore leads to offence of drunken driving – but also said that it can increase to 45 mg because of intake of medicines.
To another question, the analyst said the bottle containing the blood sample had a label which read “Salman Khan” and not “Salman Salim Khan” as the police have written in the case papers.
To another question, he said in case of such mismatch in samples, it is the duty to inform his superiors, but he did not do that. He could not give any reason for his mistake. He also could not explain and point out whether the bottle of blood sample had a stopper and what was the size.