Bollywood star Salman Khan gets five years in jail for poaching
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Loading... - Ken Ma
- 05 Apr 2021
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An Indian court has sentenced Bollywood superstar Salman Khan to five years in jail for poaching rare antelope back in 1998.
The court in Jodhpur also fined him 10,000 rupees ($154; £109) for the crime. He will now be taken to jail.
Khan killed the two blackbucks, a protected species, in the western state of Rajasthan while shooting a film.
Four other actors who starred with him in the movie and were also charged with the offence have been acquitted.
Khan, 52, can appeal against the verdict, but in a higher court.
Correspondents say he will have to spend at least a few days in prison.
What is the case against Salman Khan about?
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.
What has the reaction been?
Khan's conviction is making waves on both mainstream and social media.
The hashtag #BlackBuckPoachingCase is the top trend on Twitter India while #Salman Khan is also trending.
Many of the tweets made fun of the fact the case has gone on for years.
Others, including friends of the actor took Khan's side.
However, most other Bollywood actors have refrained from commenting.
