MUMBAI: A late dinner ended in a nightmare for Prithvi Shaw (23) and two friends after the India cricketer objected to a man and a woman repeatedly taking selfies with him in a hotel near the domestic airport early on Wednesday.
Following Shaw's objection, Shobhit Thakur, 21, and Sapna Gill alias Sanna, 30, were escorted out and waited for 25 minutes outside the hotel, said the police. When Shaw and his friends came out, the two smashed the windshield and rear screen of Shaw's white BMW with a baseball bat. In the melee, Shaw left in another car. But Thakur called more friends and they chased the BMW for 10km. Gill was arrested on Thursday.
Prithvi got irked at third request for selfie: FriendAfter an FIR was registered on Wednesday morning over people smashing cricketer Prithvi Shaw's car and chasing it the night before, the police said they launched a search for all eight persons named. Only one, Sapna Gill, has been arrested so far and will be produced in the Andheri court on Friday, said the police.
Ashish Yadav, who is Shaw's roommate, and Brijesh (only first name available) were out with the India cricketer when the incident happened. Yadav said all the accused chased Shaw's car from a hotel in Vile Parle to the gate of the Oshiwara police station.
"The woman, Gill, who was seated in a car that chased our vehicle for about 25 minutes, stepped out after we stopped near the Oshiwara police station. The woman approached me and demanded Rs 50,000, failing which she threatened to file a false case against us. The woman, her male friend Thakur and six others on three bikes sped away when cops came out of the police station on hearing the commotion around 4am," said Yadav, who runs a cafe.
Yadav said Thakur had approached Shaw, the youngest cricketer to score a century on Test debut, twice and taken selfies with him. Shaw objected when he approached him a third time, following which Thakur and Gill turned abusive. "The man and the woman were removed from the hotel by the staff when they abused me and Shaw. The duo waited for almost 25 minutes till we came out of the hotel and then they began breaking the glass," he said.
Yadav said the man and woman were wielding a baseball bat and they started fighting with Shaw on the road. "To clear the chaos, I got Shaw to leave in another car from the spot. Initially, we thought the matter had been resolved. However, we noticed that the accused and their six accomplices were chasing our car thinking that Shaw was in the car," he said.
Yadav did not file a complaint when they first arrived at the Oshiwara police station around 4am but revisited the hotel and collected details about the two primary accused before approaching the police station with his complaint. The police registered the FIR against Gill, Thakur and six accomplices under IPC sections for rioting, unlawful assembly, mischief, extortion, intentional insult, and criminal intimidation.
The police will take statements of the hotel staff and the police officials outside. DCP (zone IX) Anil Paraskar said soon action would follow.
Gill's lawyer Ali Kaashif Khan Deshmukh tweeted: "The Oshiwara police has illegally detained influencer Sapna Gill after getting assaulted by cricketer Prithvi Shaw and his goons outside barrel mansion at Andheri airport and is not allowing her to leave and get herself medically treated to file a criminal case against the cricketer."