Denying selfie request turns violent for Prithvi Shaw, car vandalized

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

The police case named eight people who allegedly accosted Mr Shaw and his friend, smashed the windscreen of their car and demanded ₹50,000. Those named in the complaint — two of whom have been identified as Shobhit Thakur and Sana or Sapna Gill — have denied the allegations, accusing the 23-year-old cricketer of first assaulting them. Ms Gill was arrested on Thursday night.

According to a complaint by Mr Shaw's friend, the brawl at a luxury hotel near the Mumbai airport started in the early hours of Wednesday after two fans - a man and a woman - approached the cricketer for a selfie. After several shots of them refusing to budge and demanding more, Mr. Shaw called his friend and the hotel manager to remove the fans.

After being ejected, fans waited outside for Prithvi and attacked Mr. Shaw, along with several others armed with baseball bats, the complaint said. When Mr Shaw and his friend drove off, they chased the car, intercepting it at a traffic light near Oshiwara and smashing the windscreen, he added.

According to Mr. Shaw's friend, they also demanded ₹50,000 and threatened to file a false police case. However, the allegations were disputed by those named in the case. Ali Kashif Khan, Sapna Gill's lawyer, in a media interview claimed that Prithvi Shaw assaulted her.

A video taken by Ms Gill's boyfriend shows her struggling with Mr Shaw, who is clutching a broken baseball bat. "Sapna has been kept at the Oshiwara police station. She is not even allowed to go for a medical check-up," Mr Khan said.