Salman found guilty in blackbuck poaching case, 5 acquitted

A Jodhpur court today convicted Bollywood actor Salman Khan in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case but acquitted his colleagues Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre, a prosecution lawyer said.

Salman has been held guilty of killing two blackbucks in Kankani village near Jodhpur in October 1998 during the shooting of the film "Hum Saath Saath Hain".

A fifth person, Dushyant Singh, a local from the area, has also been acquitted, said Mahipal Bishnoi, the prosecution counsel.

Final arguments of the case were completed in the trial court on March 28, after which Chief Judicial Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri had reserved his judgment.

Salman was facing charges under Section 9/51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.

All the actors were in a Gypsy car on the night of October 1, 1998 that night, with Salman Khan in the driving seat. He spotted a herd of blackbucks and killed two of them, the lawyer said.