The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : New turn to shootout case as Suresh changes tack

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 09, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

New turn to shootout case as Suresh changes tack

By Our Staff Reporter

Producer Suresh wipes tears at Apollo Hospitals in Hyderabad on Tuesday. — Photo: Satish H.

HYDERABAD, JUNE 8. Bellamkonda Suresh, who is recuperating from a bullet injury at Apollo Hospital, has added a new twist to the shootout episode involving actor Balakrishna when he feigned ignorance on the assailant's identity.

"I don't know who shot at me. I was in a state of shock," he told media persons at the hospital after being shifted from the intensive care unit to a private room here on Tuesday.

Mr. Suresh sought to give a clean chit to Balakrishna by describing him as a `good person'. He expressed pain at the film star being taken to courts and hospitals. "There should be no case against Balaiah Babu. He is unnecessarily blamed. I am unable to withstand his plight," he said.

To repeated queries, the film producer maintained he didn't knew who fired at him. "I don't know. I don't remember. I was in a state of shock," he said. Asked if he was in a shock before the bullet was fired at him, he chose to remain silent.

He declined to reconstruct the events of the fateful night and merely said they were discussing Balakrishna's birthday celebrations and a minor argument ensued. "We did not discuss any cinema," he replied when queried if the argument related to the movie `Lakshmi Narasimha'.

On the version that the film star shot in defence on being attacked with a knife, Mr.Suresh said: "I am not the kind who move around with a knife or for that matter, Balakrishna is not a person who carries a weapon." He kept reiterating that he is a `great fan of Balaiah Babu'.

Asked if he was retracting from the statement given to Magistrate in which he is believed to have held Balakrishna responsible for the bullet that remains embedded in the spine, Mr. Suresh evaded a direct reply. "I don't know whom I spoke to and I don't remember what I said."

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