Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has been sentenced to five years in jail, for poaching rare antelope back in 1998.
An Indian court in Jodhpur also fined him 10,000 rupees (£109) for the crime. It was revealed that, Khan had killed two blackbucks, which are a protected species, in the western state of Rajasthan while shooting a film. Four other actors, who also starred with him in the movie, have also been charged with the offence.
The 52-year-old actor, can appeal against the verdict in a higher court. Correspondents have said that, Khan will be spending a few days in jail. This is the fourth case that has been filed against the actor, in connection with poaching animals, during one of his hit movies in 1998, Hum Saath Saath Hain.
In 2006, the actor was convicted of two cases of poaching and was sentenced to five years in prison. However, the Rajasthan high court suspended the sentence in 2007 and eventually acquitted him in 2016. The Indian state government has appealed against the order during the Supreme Court.
The case against him was filed by the local Bishnoi community, who worship the blackbuck.
In December 2015, Khan killed a homeless man, during a hit and run case and injured four people. However, he was cleared from this case. It was alleged that he ran them over while they were sleeping in the street, in the western city of Mumbai.
During the trial, Khan claimed that his driver was the one behind the wheel. However, the judge said it was the actor who was driving and had been under the influence of alcohol.
Atleast seven months later, the Indian high court acquitted him after there was not enough reliable evidence.
In January 2017, the actor was acquitted in another case that charged him for using illegal firearms to kill blackbucks.
Salman Khan is one of Bollywood’s biggest actors and has appeared in over 100 films. He has a huge fan base following him in India, including middle-class English-speaking audiences and poor slum dwellers.
The actor is well-known for his romantic roles as well as action films. He has won several awards for his contribution to Indian cinema.
Khan is the eldest of three sons and is a hit on social media, as he has over 36 million fans liking his facebook page and has 32.5 million Twitter followers.
Many fans have tweeted about how this case has gone on for years.
The hashtag #BlackBuckPoachingCase is trending on Twitter in India as well as the hashtag #Salman Khan.
