Police to probe case after Preity Zinta’s return

The Mumbai Police are waiting for Bollywood actor and co-owner of Kings XI Punjab Preity Zinta, to return from abroad before furthering investigation into her complaint of molestation against her ex-boyfriend and industrialist Ness Wadia.

In a written complaint to the police on Thursday, Zinta had alleged that during a match between the King XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings, played at the Wankhade stadium on May 30, Wadia came up to her in the Garware stand, grabbed her by the hand and started hurling abuses in front of others. The 39-year-old actor has also alleged that Wadia threatened her with dire consequences and intimidated her by boasting about his political clout and connections.

As per sources, Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria said, “We are waiting for Ms Zinta to return from abroad to record her supplementary statement. That will give us clarity into the allegations. We want to have a clear picture on what exactly transpired. We are in the process of obtaining the CCTV footage of the (team) owners’ box at the Garware stand where the incident allegedly took place.”

Maria further added that, “two persons who had witnessed the spat, as claimed by Zinta’s lawyer, were contacted on Sunday. On account of two consecutive holidays, we could not record their statement. Their statement will be recorded on Monday or on Tuesday.”

In reply to to the 24-hour ultimatum given to police by the state women’s rights commission to arrest Wadia, the police said they would proceed with the investigation further only after obtaining some relevant information from Zinta following her return from abroad.