Mumbai: Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan hit back at the Mumbai Cricket Association, saying he was not drunk during the alleged brawl between him and MCA officials and got into the spat only after kids with him were "manhandled".
The Bollywood star had an altercation with the security and officials of the association after the Knight Riders had swamped Mumbai Indians, according to MCA treasurer Ravi Savant.
The MCA officials have lodged a police complaint against Khan for his alleged misbehaviour at the stadium and decided to ban him for life from entering the premises.
"I was not drunk, I had gone to pick up my children. The officials were extremely aggressive. I just got angry but I left after that. I said a few things in anger. I was one and they were 20-25 officials and they were extremely rude. When I tried to answer them, they hid behind others," Khan said in a press conference.
"They should apologise to me. They were extremely high-handed," he added.
Asked about the reported ban on him by the MCA, Khan said, "If this is the kind of behaviour meted out to people then I would not go there. There were people rushing at me aggressively. I think it`s unpardonable that you manhandle kids in the name of security."
"I don`t know about the ban. I will call (MCA head Vilasrao) Deshmukh. I will write a complaint about their behaviour and the kind of language they used," he added.
"I didn`t go for the match, I went to pick up my children. I have no clarification to give. They should look at their association and how they behave. They cannot, under the garb of security, be high-handed with people, especially children", Khan said.
Khan conceded he was also aggressive during the brawl but did it only on provocation.
"To be abusive to fans or audience that`s not me. They manhandled little girls. I would not deny that I was abusive but it started that this gentleman came from behind to say something in Marathi which I cannot repeat. I asked him to speak in Hindi.
"There was nothing illegal, I was not on the pitch. I know the rules," he said.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, May 17, 2012, 17:35