How Salman Khan Hit And Run Case Ruined Bodyguard Ravindra Patil’s Life

Ravindra Patil, a young boy from Satara district joined the Mumbai Police as a constable and later trained as a commando to join the Special Operations Squad (SOS) which has a primary duty of guarding VIPs. He was later assigned as Salman Khan’s unarmed bodyguard after the actor complained to Mumbai Police about threats from the underworld.

A Mumbai court has sentenced Salman Khan to 5 years in prison in the infamous hit-and-run case. It was in 2002 that the incident happened and Patil, as a law abiding policeman, stood as prime witness of the incident stating that it was in fact Salman Khan who was driving when the accident occurred.

Life of Ravindra Patil after giving his testimony

After giving his statement that Salman Khan was under the influence of alcohol and he (Salman) was behind the wheel at the time of the incident, it was claimed that Patil received a lot of pressure to withdraw his statement.

Patil was later locked in Arthur road jail because he failed to appear for five consecutive court dates. He lost his job as policeman and was kept in jail with hardened criminals for his absence from the court. He was reportedly ill-treated and tortured inside the jail.

After five years in 2007, he was found on the streets of Mumbai as a beggar, and was suffering from TB for over 2 years. During the hard time of Patil, police, media and family had forgotten him.

He passed away on October 4, 2007 of TB. Shockingly, his family had already cut him out of their life and they didn’t even claim or collect his body. It was around his death that Bollywood actor Salman Khan started his “Being Human” initiative. Being Human was founded on July 28, 2007 for helping the cause of healthcare and education.

Patil, who was with Salman Khan on the night of the accident where one man was killed and four other injured, had maintained till his death, that the actor was behind the wheel.

What happened at that night? (according to the statement of Ravindra Patil)

Ravindra Patil said the court, “It was 9:30 pm on September 27, 2002, the accused and Kamal Khan came out of a room at their residence and told me they were going to Rain Bar, Juhu. The accused had a Toyota Land Cruiser car with the registration number MH 01 DA 32. The accused was driving the car.”

“They asked me to wait outside, while the accused and Kamal went inside the hotel. The bodyguard of Sohail Khan also met me there. After a few hours, the accused and Kamal came out. The accused sat in the driver’s seat and I was sitting next to him. Kamal was sitting in the rear,” he had said.

Witness inside the Rain Bar

Moloy Baug, a bartender said the actor’s group had ordered liquor. Rizwan Rakhanngi, manager, said he saw Khan hold a glass full with a colourless liquid like water.

After Salman stepped out of Rain Bar

Patil said Salman Khan came out of Rain Bar at 2.15 am and they went to JW Marriott, where he was made to wait outside again. Patil then warned accused Salman to drive slow when Salman was driving at a speed of 90-100 km/hr.

 “They came out at 2.15am. When the accused sat behind the wheel, I asked him whether he would be driving the car. He ignored me. The accused was driving the car at a speed of 90-100 km/hour. Before reaching the Hill Road junction, I told the accused to slow down as a right turn was coming up. He ignored me again. The accused lost control of the car while taking a turn and drove right on to the footpath,” Patil had said.

Accident site

After a while, the car crashed into American Express bakery and broke its shutter. “There was a lot of shouting and people had gathered around us. I showed my identity card and told the crowd I was a policeman, which pacified them. The accused and Kamal ran away from the spot. I went to the car to check and saw that one person was seriously injured. There were four others who were stuck under the car,” Patil told the court.

After the incident and as the accused Salman Khan and Kamal fled away from the spot leaving the injured victims crying under his car wheel, it was Patil who called the Police Control Room for help and then lodged a complaint with Bandra Police.

“The incident took place because the car was in speed and the accused, in a drunken state, could not control the car while taking the turn,” he had said in the court.

May 6, 2015

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan was sentenced to five years in jail in the infamous 2002 hit-and-run case.
The above is from The Tehelka, Daily