Vinod Kambli's wife accuses singer Ankit Tiwari's father of touching her inappropriately

The Inorbit Mall in Malad, Mumbai witnessed a major tussle yesterday (1 July). Former Indian cricketer Vinod Kambli and his wife Andrea Hewitt were in an altercation with singer Ankit Tiwari’s father Raj Kumar Tiwari and brother Ankur Tiwari. 

While Andrea has alleged that the 59-year-old Raj Kumar touched her inappropriately, the latter has claimed he was allegedly punched by Andrea for no reason. 

While talking to Mumbai Mirror, a tabloid, Vinod said, “We were at the Game Zone in the mall [at] around 3pm when my wife caught hold of an old man’s hand. He had deliberately brushed his hand against her and when she caught him in the act, he pushed her away. Minutes later when we were at the food court, two men, who we assume were the man’s sons, tried to attack my wife. When I told them to back off, they told me, ‘You don’t know who we are.’”

According to Andrea she caught Raj Kumar ‘red handed’. “I was playing with my children when this guy took the opportunity to rub his hand against me. Maybe he thought nothing would happen because it was crowded. When I caught his hand, I was surprised to see this old man. He appeared embarrassed because I had caught him red-handed. He appeared scared, and said something in Hindi, on the lines that ‘I cannot do something like this'. The inappropriate touching ka zamaana [time] is over. Such things should be dealt with strictly,” she said.

On the other hand, Ankur has claimed that his father had lost consciousness and had accidently touched Andrea. “My father, a retired bank employee, had accompanied my daughter to the Game Zone. My father told me he spotted Vinod Kambli there, and as he was walking past a woman, he blacked out. My father was disoriented after the attack. He couldn’t believe he had been punched, and that a woman was screaming, accusing him of brushing his hand against her. I asked my father to identify the woman, and we realised she was Kambli’s wife,” he said. 

He even accused Vinod and Andrea of unruly behaviour. “I told them I wanted to speak with them, but they pushed me and hurled abuses. Kambli’s wife removed her sandal and threatened to hit me with it,” Ankur added. 

Further, Ankur also accused Vinod of allegedly 'chasing' a female bystander who recorded a video of the incident and demanded she delete it. “He was abusing loudly, cursing everyone around. I asked him to speak to me politely, but he kept pushing me. His wife pushed me too. When I tried calling up the police, he snatched my phone. He even chased a woman to make sure she deleted the video recording from her phone,” he said. 

The Tiwaris have lodged a complaint against Vinod and Andrea at Bangur Nagar police station in Malad.

Meanwhile the former cricketer wrote about the incident on his Twitter handle addressing the Mumbai police following which an officer from Bandra police station recorded his statement at his residence. No arrest has been made so far.