Salman Khan, who was convicted in the blackbuck case, reportedly refused to eat the simple food served to him last night and this morning.
JODHPUR: Bollywood superstar Salman Khan – convicted for killing two endangered blackbucks 20 years ago – will have to spend another night in Jodhpur Central Jail as Qaidi (prisoner) No. 106, after a court today said his bail plea hearing will continue tomorrow. The court on Thursday found him guilty of killing two blackbucks in 1998 and sentenced him to five years in jail. Four other Bollywood stars, Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam Kothari, were acquitted for lack of evidence. While delivering the verdict in the blackbuck poaching case, the judge said, “The way the accused killed two innocent black bucks in violation of the wildlife laws…he is a film star, people emulate him… there has been a rise in poaching incidents, so leniency is not justified.” Salman Khan did not appear before the court today. His lawyer reached the Jodhpur sessions court this morning with a 51-page bail application.
Here are the top 10 updates on Salman Khan blackbuck poaching case:
- Salman Khan, 52, was taken to Jodhpur Central Jail on Thursday evening, hours after he was convicted in the blackbuck poaching case. There is heavy security at the jail because of the superstar’s presence. Salman Khan has been kept alone in cell and nobody is allowed to meet him. The actor has his own guards in jail.
- Several Bollywood insiders, including veteran actor Jaya Bachchan, Arjun Rampal Subhash Ghai and Varun Dhawan, openly declared their disappointment at the verdict and backed Salman Khan. Actor Preity Zinta landed in Jodhpur today. “I know for a fact that Salman bhai and his family have the utmost respect and faith in our judiciary system. @BeingSalmanKhan is one of the strongest and most genuine people I know and I’m sure he will come out of this stronger,” Varun Dhawan tweeted.
- The two blackbucks were shot dead near a village of the Bishnoi community in October 1998, when Salman Khan and other actors – Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam Kothari – went on a hunt after spending the day shooting for their film, “Hum Saath Saath Hain“.
- Villagers of the Bishnoi community, who filed the case against the actors and pursued the poaching case for almost two decades, celebrated on Thursday after Salman Khan’s conviction.
- Salman Khan had spotted a herd of blackbucks and shot dead two of them, the court was told. The Bishnois alleged that they took a bike and chased the Gypsy that Salman Khan was driving.
- Salman Khan’s lawyer said the judge said he wanted to see the entire case record before deciding whether Khan should be granted bail. “We argued for bail in the court. Basically the eyewitness is not reliable… the trial court has convicted Salman on the basis of basically just one eyewitness,” Mahesh Bora, the actor’s lawyer said.
- While Salman Khan is the most high-profile inmate at Jodhpur Central Jail, his fellow prisoners include Asaram Bapu, the disgraced “godman” accused of raping a 15-year-old schoolgirl in his ashram in 2013 and Shambhu Lal Regar, who hacked a man to death, filmed the deranged act on video and shared it on social media.
- Salman Khan reportedly refused to eat the simple food served to him last night and this morning. He refused the dal-roti and khichdi. “He will have a simple wooden bed, a rug and a cooler in his cell,” Jail superintendent Vikram Singh said.
- Salman Khan has nearly Rs. 600 crore riding on him, according to film industry analysts, and the verdict will affect at least three big projects. Mr Khan’s current film ‘Race 3’, is scheduled for an Eid release.
- In 2015, Salman Khan was cleared in a 2002 hit-and-run case in which his Toyota Land Cruiser had crashed into men sleeping on a pavement in Mumbai’s Bandra, killing one. In 2016, the Rajashtan High Court acquitted Khan in a separate poaching case, ruling that there was no proof that Khan had killed an endangered chinkara or gazelle.
Salman Khan was sentenced to five years in prison in the blackbuck poaching case.
