Bollywood star Salman Khan has been reportedly sentenced to five years in jail by a Jodhpur court and sent to the Jodhpur Central Jail for killing two blackbucks in October 1998.
The court acquitted his colleagues Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre and a local, Dushyant Singh, giving them the “benefit of doubt”, the lawyer said.
The 52 year old Salman Khan, was taken to the Jodhpur Central jail from the court premises in a police vehicle,police officials said.
As the sentence is more than three years, Salman will have to appeal in higher court for bail.
For Salman Khan this will be his fourth time in the Jodhpur Central Jail. He had earlier spent 18 days in the jail in 1998, 2006 and 2007, still on poaching related cases.
The Chief Judicial Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri had reserved his judgment after the final arguements of the case were heard on the 28th of March
The court sentenced him to five years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000, prosecution lawyer Mahipal Bishnoi said.
Held guilty under Section 9/51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, he had faced a maximum punishment of six years behind bars.
The blackbucks, from the antelope family were shot and killed by the actor in Kankani village near Jodhpur on the night of October 1, 1998 during the shooting of the film “Hum Saath Saath Hain“.
All the actors were in a Gypsy that night with Salman in the driving seat. He spotted a herd of blackbucks and killed two of them, the lawyer said.
All the accused, some of them accompanied by their family members, were in the courtroom when the verdict was read out.
The Hindu business line
