A Jodhpur court sentenced Bollywood’s most bankable star Salman Khan to 5 years in jail after finding him guilty of killing two endangered antelopes during an impromptu hunting trip in October, 1998 in Rajasthan.
Salman, the main accused in the case, was also fined Rs 10,000 by CJM Dev Kumar Khatri.
Tears rolled down Salman’s cheeks after he heard the jail term.
His sisters Alvira and Arpita, who were present in court, also broke down. The actor was arrested inside the court premises in Jodhpur. Salman Khan was taken to the Jodhpur Central Jail after the verdict.
This is the fourth case filed against the actor in connection with poaching animals during the filming of the 1998 movie Hum Saath Saath Hain.
He has been acquitted in three of them.
In 2006, a trial court convicted the actor in two cases of poaching and sentenced him to five years in prison. The Rajasthan high court suspended the sentence the following year, and eventually acquitted him in 2016.
The state government has appealed against that order in the Supreme Court.
The original poaching case against him was filed by the local Bishnoi community, who revere and worship the blackbuck.
