Cricketer Prithvi Shaw vs “Fans”: Selfie Fight, Baseball Bat Attack

Mumbai:

An argument over selfies quickly escalated into a fight with a baseball bat and a car chase in Mumbai for cricketer Prithvi Shaw, according to a police complaint.

Eight people have been named in the police case for allegedly charging at Mr Shaw and his friend, breaking the windshield of their car and demanding Rs 50,000.

Those named in the complaint – two of whom have been identified as Shobhit Thakur and Sana or Sapna Gill – have refuted the charges and accused Mr Shaw of assaulting them first.

According to the complaint by Mr Shaw’s friend, the fight began at a luxury hotel in Mumbai’s Oshiwara in the early hours of Wednesday after two fans – a man and a woman – approached the cricketer for selfies.

After a few pictures, when they refused to back off and demanded more, Mr Shaw called his friend and the manager of the hotel to have the fans removed.

After being kicked out, the fans waited outside for Prithvi and, along with a few others armed with baseball bats, mobbed Mr Shaw, the complaint said.

When Mr Shaw and his friend drove off, they chased the car, intercepted it at a traffic signal and broke the windshield, it added.

They also demanded Rs 50,000, threatening to file a fake police case, according to Mr Shaw’s friend.

The allegations, however, have been challenged by those named in the case.

Speaking to the media, Ali Kashif Khan, the lawyer for Sapna Gill in the case, has alleged that Prithvi Shaw assaulted the woman.

A video filmed by Ms Gill’s friend showed her struggling with Mr Shaw, who is clutching a broken baseball bat.

“Sapna has been kept in the Oshiwara police station. She is not being allowed to go even for medical examination,” Mr Khan said.