A local court in Mumbai has remanded social media influencer Sapna Gill to police custody for allegedly attacking Indian cricketer Prithvi Shaw and his friends outside Hotel Sahara Star in Santacruz area of Maharashtra’s capital.
Oshiwara Police had arrested Gill and co-accused Shobit Thakur on Thursday for allegedly attacking Shaw and his friends, besides demanding Rs 50,000 from him.
Gill was produced before the court of Magistrate at Andheri on Friday, which remanded her to police custody till February 20.
Based on a complaint lodged by Shaw’s friend and roommate Ashish Yadav, Oshiwara Police had on Thursday registered a case against Gill, her friend Thakur and six others under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 148 (rioting), 384 (extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation) and other Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Yadav said in the complaint that Gill and her friends approached Shaw to click selfies with them. He obliged them twice, but when approached for the third time, Shaw refused, after which they misbehaved with the cricketer. The hotel manager intervened and asked Gill and Thakur to leave the premises.
The complaint further said that Shaw and his friends then had dinner at the hotel. When they were stepping out, they saw Thakur standing outside with a baseball bat in hand. After the cricketer and his friends sat in their car, the accused attacked its windshield with the baseball bat. Shaw was also manhandled by Gill.
Yadav said that Shaw was shifted to another car while he and others drove the cricketer’s car. He said he saw three motorcycles and a white car chasing their vehicle. Around 4 am, those following him attacked his car when it was taking a U-turn near a petrol pump on Link Road.
Thakur, who was one of them, broke the rear windshield with the baseball bat. The six persons on the motorcycles along with Gill and Thakur who were in another car, abused Yadav, who then took the car to Oshiwara police station.
The eight accused also followed them there. Gill demanded Yadav to pay Rs 50,000 to settle the matter or else she would lodge a false police complaint against them, added the complaint.
The Counsel appearing for Gill denied all the allegations. The social media influencer told the court that Shaw hit her on the chest and arms.
She further claimed that she did not know the cricketer and never asked for a selfie. As per Gill, Shaw was in an inebriated state, when the incident took place.