The Times Group
MUMBAI:
The news, that he might be declared an absconder, prompted Salman Khan's
decision to travel to Jodhpur before cops from Rajasthan arrived in Mumbai to
arrest him. Family friends also added that his father, Salim Khan, strongly
advised that he
surrender.
People close to the
family said the actor wanted to take a chartered flight to Jodhpur on Friday
itself but, with that not being possible, he finally left Mumbai on Saturday by
an 11.30-am flight.
Wearing a white T-shirt and glares, the actor came down to the gate (of the Galaxy building) to tell the media about his decision. "I have not been intimated about surrendering but, as a responsible and law-abiding citizen, I am going myself to Jodhpur. Jo hoga dekha jayega (I'll take things as they come)," he said.
He then walked back and
hugged mother Salma, who was in tears. The entire family was there —
siblings Arbaaz, Alvira, Sohail and their wives and children — but a
nervous Salman almost forgot about father Salim. He had to be called back and, a
tight hug later, he was inside the car with the luggage he had with
him.
A 30-member posse of cops
stood guard as the crowd that had gathered shouted slogans like "Salman Khan
zindabad".
The actor appeared
very nervous throughout the flight and there was a definite change in his
demeanour to mediapersons; instead of making faces at the large number of
mediapersons (like he would do in more normal circumstances), he actually went
out of his way to court them on the
flight.
He told one of them
— sitting right behind him — that he would plead for a pardon from
the court but, if that did not happen, he was ready to go to jail. But he added:
"Everyone else in the case was discharged. Why am I being punished?" He also
said he considered Sanjay Dutt like his elder
brother.
But Salman,
apparently, did not lose his sense of humour. He was reading a newspaper that
had a representative collage of celebrities behind bars. "So I am not the only
one," he smiled to a
cameraperson.