Ravindra Patil, former bodyguard of Actor Salman Khan and an eyewitness in a hit-and-run case, was today remanded to judicial custody till March 16 by a local court which also cancelled non-bailable warrant issued against him earlier for not deposing during the trial.

Patil was arrested from Mahableshwar in Maharashtra on March 10 as the court had issued non-bailable warrant against him for not appearing in the case in which Salman is accused of killing one person and injuring four by ramming his car into a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002.

As Patil appeared today, the warrant was cancelled by magistrate J B Pankhe who remanded him to judicial custody till March 16 when the trial would resume.

After his arrest, Crime Branch sleuths brought Patil to Mumbai. He has been lodged in Bandra jail and will be produced again before the court on March 16.

The court had issued non-bailable warrant against Patil on February seven when he failed to turn up. Again on February 10 he did not appear and the court re-issued the warrant by asking him to appear on February 16. Even on that day and later on March 2 he failed to appear in the case.

Patil had tendered evidence before the court but his cross-examination is pending, Salman's lawyer Dipesh Mehta told.

Patil's deposition is considered significant because he was accompanying Salman when the actor met with an accident. He is not only an eyewitness but also complainant in the case.

Patil had also told the police that Salman was under the influence of liquor and had advised the actor not drive to rashly or else he would meet with an accident.