Speaking on Wednesday afternoon about the series of incidents leading to the ugly spat with a mob on the road, the soft-spoken Sawant said he felt he was being targeted only because he was a known face.
Says the singer, "On Tuesday night I attended a singers' association's meeting with my friends and colleagues. Among them was Prajakta Shukre. After the meeting we all left. Prajakta was in her Honda City. On the way she banged her car into a scooter which had two people on it. She called me in panic. And I immediately rushed to the spot to help her, as any friend would."
Abhijeet, who is happily married, is appalled to read Prajakta being referred to in the papers as his "girlfriend".
Protests the singer and reality-show host, "She is like my sister. Hum donon mein bhai-behen ka rishta hai. So I rushed to her rescue. When I got there I saw the situation was very bad. The mobs were getting very edgy and aggressive. When I tried to intervene they got rough with me and held my collar."
Abhijeet denies being drunk or getting abusive with the public on the road. "Throughout I kept my cool and when the cops arrived we went to the police station."
The injuries to the two boys on the scooter, says Abhijeet, are minor.
"There have been reports that we were drunk. That isn't true at all. Prajakta got into a bit of trouble. And I helped her out. I don't think that's wrong."
Senior inspector Madhukar Chaudhari of Santacruz police station said, “The incident occurred around 10.45 pm. Shukre and her friends, including Sawant, were travelling from Juhu in three cars. In Daulat Nagar, the victims, a bike driven by Taufiq Khan, 19, with his younger brother Tohid Khan, 12, riding pillion, came out of a lane and swerved in the path of the Honda City being driven by Shukre.”
As the car hit the bike, the two boys fell off. The car went on to hit a tree.
An angry mob gathered and got into an argument with Shukre. Sawant, who had been sitting in one of the other two cars, tried to protect Shukre from the angry crowd and was assaulted. “After the police were informed, we despatched a team to the spot to control the situation. Shukre and her friends were brought to the police station where Shukre was charged with rash driving and subsequently released on bail,” said Chaudhary.
Tohid suffered a fracture and Taufiq had light injuries. Both boys are at Nanavati Hospital.
Asked if Shukre had been under the influence of alcohol, Chaudhari said, “We have sent her blood samples for alcohol tests but prima facie, she did not seem to have been inebriated.”
Sawant and Shukre later held a press conference in Andheri and said they had been neither drunk nor racing. “We had gone for an All India Singers’ Association meeting in Santacruz and were returning from there when the accident took place. The mob was so incensed that they started beating up Abhijeet,” Shukre said.
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