‘Guard pulled trigger after being taunted’

Inquiries into the shooting incident outside Shah Rukh Khan’s bungalow Mannat in Bandra Bandstand have shown that the security guard who shot dead his colleague was enraged at being taunted.

The police remand application says Yatendra Singh Chauhan, 28, lost his temper when Chandrapratap Singh, 22, tried to boss over him late on Monday night. “You get a salary of Rs15,000; so, don’t sit at one place. Keep patrolling”, Singh apparently told Chauhan, reads the remand. When Chauhan did not react, Singh allegedly asked him “tera revolver bhi chalta hai kya”.

At this Chauhan fired a shot from his revolver hitting Singh on the chest. Singh was declared dead by the Bhabha Hospital. Chauhan, who had fled the scene after the incident, was arrested a couple of hours later from his Goregaon residence. Police also seized a loaded revolver from his house. The gun and five bullets have been sent to the forensic laboratory for ballistic analysis. Police have collected blood samples from the spot and sent them to the laboratory for chemical analysis.

As the courts were closed on Tuesday, Independence Day, Chauhan was produced in the Bandra holiday special metropolitan magistrate’s court. Chauhan, in a green T-shirt, sat quietly as the judge remanded him in police custody till August 22. Chauhan’s counsel Nitin Satpute moved a bail application saying, “Police arrested him based on suspicion. There is no direct evidence against him. He has been falsely implicated.”

The other security guards posted at Khan’s bungalow have given their statements to police. An investigation is on to check the veracity of the revolver’s licence.

It was just an accident, says security chief

The security agency, Tops, has denied police allegations that they were negligent in hiring Yatendra Singh Chauhan. The police’s contention that Chauhan had an unstanble mind and did not undergo police verification was refuted by Tops chief Rahul Nanda, who was called in for questioning on Tuesday.

According to Nanda, “It was a pure accident. Bullets going off accidentally are not new. It has happened with the police too. We have 45,000 personnel working for our company all over India and we have a brilliant record.” He also disputed the police’s statement that the agency had advised the Khans not to call the police. “I, in fact , told Shah Rukh he should report it to the police. Why should we object? I immediately sent our company's ambulance vehicle to the spot,” he claimed.

Chauhan's credentials, he said, were checked, including necessary police verifications. “He had an all-India licensed revolver. We never came across any adverse track record. If any mishap happens, how can you put the blame on the employing authorities,” Nanda asked. Police however do not buy the accident theory and say that Chauhan was trying to run away when he was caught at his house.

Meanwhile, Karuna, executive assistant to Khan told this paper on Tuesday evening that star was having a normal day. “Today is Independence day. So it's a holiday. He is helping the police in their investigations,” she said.

— Nirmal Mishra