Preity Zinta with Ness Wadia in Mumbai. File picture

Mumbai, June 14: The tiff was apparently between his former girlfriend and his mother who was once quoted as saying she didn’t care if her son “married a Zinta or a zebra”.

What it ended in was an FIR against Ness Wadia on a “molestation” complaint by Preity Zinta from whom he split some five years ago.

According to one of Ness’s lady friends witness to the May 30 incident in Wankhede Stadium’s Garware pavilion, trouble started when his mother Maureen walked in with husband Nusli around 8.30pm to watch an IPL semi-final but could not find places to sit in the box owned by the Wadias.

Maureen, an ex-airhostess and owner of Gladrags magazine who also runs a grooming school, is then reported to have given Preity — the actress came with a large number of guests — a mouthful, leading to a heated exchange between the ladies.

“Preity had got a huge number of guests with her; Ness’s dad Nusli Wadia and mother Maureen were also there. Maureen, who owns the box with Nusli, in fact had no place to sit in the box,” Ness’s friend claimed.

“When she pointed out to Preity that the box belonged to the Wadias and not Kings XI Punjab, there was a tiff between the ladies. Ness came in a while later and started off in his usual aggressive style….”

The ladies are known to have shared frosty vibes ever since the “Zinta or zebra” remark became public. In a few months of that, the five-year relationship between Preity and Ness is said to have soured, ending in a break-up in 2009. The duo, however, continued as co-owners of Kings XI Punjab.

A Mumbai socialite, who was present at the semi-final between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Superkings, said it required about 10 persons to lead Ness, known for his quick temper, away from Preity.

The actress’s friends alleged that Ness continued abusing and threatening her even as BCCI officials and others pulled him away.

“As he was being taken away, Ness threatened Preity that he could make her disappear. That she was a nobody. He was even aggressive with the officials who tried to calm him down and take him away,” one of Preity’s friends claimed.

Preity herself said in the complaint filed with Mumbai police that Ness had become aggressive when she rebuffed his attempts to talk to her.

“Ness held me by my arm and tried to pull me towards him. When I resisted, he began abusing me. Even when he was dragged away, he kept screaming and threatening me,” the complaint said.

After things cooled down, Preity reportedly greeted Ness’s father Nusli, the head of the Wadia group and grandson of Mohammed Ali Jinnah. “Preity went up to Nusli to say hello,” the Mumbai socialite said.

One of Ness’s friends, however, claimed Preity had lost her cool as “she was upset to see Ness with his new girlfriend, a foreigner”.

A top Mumbai police officer told The Telegraph that Preity had verbally complained to the BCCI about Ness before the May 30 incident.

“Zinta has shared with the police emails she had written to Ness Wadia dated prior to the Wankhede incident,” he said. “In her emails… she asks him to stop stalking and abusing her. They are an important piece of evidence.”

Sources close to Preity claimed Ness constantly humiliated her at social events, calling her a “gold-digger”.

“Preity had requested BCCI that at the Garware pavilion she should not be seated close to Ness, though they were co-owners. After the May 30 incident, some people advised her to ignore it as it would take away attention from the IPL — among them was a high-profile team IPL owner,” a source claimed.

Ness was not in Mumbai yesterday when he was charged under several IPC sections for, among other things, assault or criminal force to outrage the modesty of a woman and for word or gesture intended to insult her. He was back at his Prabha Devi residence today.

His publicist termed the complaint “totally false and baseless”. The police said Ness had told them that he was “innocent”.

“All the charges against him are non-bailable and he can get a term between seven and 10 years if the charges are proved,” said a police officer.

“We have asked BCCI to share CCTV camera footage of the Garware pavilion. Any possible arrest will happen only after these processes are over.”

Preity, who left for Los Angeles on Friday night, posted a statement on Facebook in which she said she was “left with no option but to take this stern step as this incident happened in front of way too many people”. She requested the media and her supporters to focus on the incident and “not turn this and me into a TV soap”.

The actress has told the police that she took a while to file the complaint as she was pressured by many in Bollywood and the BCCI not to blow up the issue. “She also said she was travelling and that delayed her. The complaint she has submitted was drafted by some legal eagle,” said a police source.