MUMBAI: A 70-year-old woman was killed when she was knocked down by a Land Cruiser owned by Bollywood filmmaker Arbaaz Khan, police here said Monday.
"It was most unfortunate, the woman suddenly came in front of the vehicle and fell. The driver immediately applied the brakes and reported the matter to the police," said the actor’s father and eminent writer Salim Khan.
He claimed that the woman, apparently frail, was not "crushed" as claimed in some quarters, but fell near the vehicle. The incident occurred around 11 p.m. Sunday near St. Andrew’s Church when the vehicle was headed towards the home of the Khans at Bandstand.
The car was being driven by Dhananjay Pimpale, the driver, who has been arrested on charges of rash and negligent driving and culpable homicide not amounting to murder. He will be presented before a local court later Monday.
Pimpale was subjected to a medical test shortly after the incident and was not under intoxication, preliminary information indicated.
The woman has been identified as Chandra Bala, police said. She was rushed to the Bhabha hospital by a police constable and some autorickshaw drivers in the vicinity but succumbed to her injuries.
At the time of the incident, no members of the Khan family were present in the vehicle, police said.
Salim has three sons – Arbaaz, who produced the hit "Dabangg", Bollywood superstar Salman Khan and filmmaker Sohail Khan.
Salim Khan castigated the media saying that instead of finding out the whereabouts of the poor woman and her family or survivors, the focus was more on his celebrity family — whether they were inside the vehicle and who owned the vehicle.
He added that the vehicle belonged to Arbaaz but was being used temporarily by Sohail. No family member was present in the vehicle at the time of the accident, he said.
