After being rapped by the Bombay High Court over the mishandling of crucial details in the 2002 hit-and-run case involving Bollywood actor Salman Khan, the Mumbai Police have now sent out circulars to all police stations to ensure such lapses are not repeated.
Additional Commissioner of Police (crime) KMM Prasanna issued the circular that highlights 16 major mistakes the city police made while dealing with Salman Khan's case, Mid Day reported.
Khan was acquitted last month by the Bombay High Court, which said the manner in which the evidence, such as bar bills, had been collected indicated fabrication. The court had also observed that "requisite and necessary care was not taken while taking the blood sample".
"Whatever anomalies the court pointed out, we have just passed on to our staff. That does not mean we accept them (points). We are only pointing it out to our men so that such things don't happen in the future," the ACP told the newspaper.
IBTimes India did not get a response when trying to contact the ACP.
Here are the main lapses in the Salman Khan's hit-and-run case the Mumbai Police have been asked to take note of:
- The blood samples of the deceased and the actor were taken at two different hospitals without proper explanation.
- The investigating officer collected bills from the bar in Santacruz that the actor had visited before the accident without certification under Section 65 (B) of the Evidence Act.
- On the morning of the accident, i.e on 28 September, 2002, Salman Khan was available for medical tests, but he was taken only in the afternoon.
- While the Mumbai Police had seized the bills from the JW Marriott Hotel, they did not include it in the panchnama.
- Singer-actor Kamal Khan, who was said to have been with Salman Khan in the car on the night of the accident, was not summoned by the Mumbai Police.
- The first information report (FIR) was altered at least twice without any explanation.
- The defence's claims of a tyre burst causing the accident was not confirmed by taking the tyre for proper checks.
- Blood samples were kept at the Bandra police station for two days before they were sent to the forensic laboratory.
- While 6 ml blood was extracted (from the actor), only 4 ml of blood reached the chemical analyst.
Salman Khan had been acquitted by the Bombay High Court on 10 December after the court set aside an earlier order by a trial court which had convicted the actor for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and had handed him a five-year jail term.
One street-dweller had been killed when Khan's car ran over homeless people sleeping on the footpath in Bandra.
