Jodhpur court records statement of Salman Khan

A court here Wednesday recorded the statement of Bollywood actor Salman Khan in the Arms Act case against him in connection with poaching of blackbucks.

"Salman, in his statement, has denied all the allegations and said he neither was carrying illegal arms nor did he poach blackbucks," Salman Khan's counsel Hastimal Saraswat told IANS.

The court has fixed March 10 as its next hearing date.

On the night of Oct 1-2, 1998, during the shooting of the Hindi movie "Hum Saath Saath Hain", two blackbucks, a protected animal under the Wildlife Protection Act, were allegedly killed on the outskirts of Kankani village near Jodhpur.

Salman khan, along with a few other stars, were accused of poaching the blackbucks.

During this time the Bollywood star was also accused of carrying illegal arms. He is alleged to have been carrying arms with expired license.

A complaint was filed against Salman Khan on charges of being involved in hunting protected blackbucks.

The actor was summoned by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Chandra Kala Jain Jan 15 to record his statement Wednesday as an accused in this case.

His statement could not be recorded till lunch as his lawyers filed an application in the court, requesting that his statement should not be recorded and the different cases registered against him be clubbed together.

"In the previous hearing Jan 15, the court asked Salman Khan to appear before it Wednesday. He complied with the court order and arrived here," Hastimal Saraswat said.

"We had requested the court to club together the different cases registered against the actor. However, the court disallowed our application and recorded the statement of Salman Khan," Saraswat said.