Blackbucks land Tiger in jail for 5 years

Nineteen years after he  had allegedly killed two blackbucks, the “Dabangg” of Bollywood, Salman Khan, received a five-year imprisonment  after which he was  taken to  Jodhpur Central Jail on Thursday evening.

Salman was held under Section 9/51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act which provides for a maximum punishment of six years in jail.

Dressed in a black shirt, Salman was present in the court when the verdict was announced. As the sentence is more than three years, Salman will have to appeal in higher court for bail.

The actor shot and killed the blackbucks, from the antelope family, in Kankani village near Jodhpur on the night of October 1, 1998, during the shooting of the film “Hum Saath Saath Hain”.

“The accused is a popular actor whose deeds are followed by people. Despite this, the accused hunted two blackbucks,” said Chief Judicial Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri in his written judgment.

While convicting the Bollywood superstar, the trial court acquitted his colleagues Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre and a local, Dushyant Singh, giving them the “benefit of doubt”.

According to prosecution lawyer Mahipal Bishnoi all the actors were in a Gypsy that night with Salman in the driving seat. He spotted a herd of blackbucks and killed two of them, Bishnoi said.

However, Salman’s lawyer said the fact that the court has acquitted all the 5 co-accused, “would imply that Salman was out hunting alone in the middle of the night in a remote area outside Jodhpur.”

Salman, 52, was taken to the Jodhpur Central Jail from the court premises in a police vehicle, officials said. Salman will have dozens of hardcore criminals and religious preacher Asaram Bapu to give him company in the jail.

Jodhpur DIG (Prisons) Vikram Singh has been quoted as saying Salman had made no special requests not even for  drinking water.

Salman marked as prisoner number 106 and is lodged in ward number two under multi-layer security. The actor will receive his jail uniform on Friday.

This is his fourth stint in the Jodhpur Central Jail. He has earlier spent a total of 18 days in the jail in 1998, 2006 and 2007, all for cases of poaching. 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. Apart from the five-year sentence, the court also imposed a fine of   Rs 10,000.

All the accused, some of them accompanied by their family members, were in the courtroom when the verdict was read out.

Since morning, media crews, hundreds of stargazers and security personnel swarmed the court premises waiting for Salman and the other accused to show up. Large crowds armed with mobile phones lined up along the 2-kilometre route from the court as star  was whisked away in a Bolero police jeep to spend a night in the Jodhpur Central Jail.

Within hours, social media was awash with photographs of Salman, dressed in a black shirt and jeans, entering the jail.

Animal rights activists welcomed the sentencing, and some said Salman should have been given the maximum punishment under the Wildlife Act.  “We are happy that justice has prevailed and a serial offender is behind bars. The judiciary has once again proved that the popularity of the accused has no bearing on the case before the court,” said Gauri Maulekhi of People For Animals.

Menawhile, Salman’s  senior lawyer Anand Desai said in Mumbai  that he had moved the local Sessions court, seeking suspension of the actor’s sentence or bail. The court will hear the actor’s plea on Friday morning.

In a statement issued here, Desai said the judgement in the black buck case had come as a “surprise” to him, given that the actor had been acquitted by the Rajasthan High Court in two cases. He, however, said he respected the judgement.   

“We respect the decision of the court. While we are studying the judgement it just came as a surprise, as the entire investigation, and facts of this case were the same as those for which Salman has been acquitted by the High Court of Rajasthan in two cases, and even by the CJM in the Arms Act matter for the alleged offence on the very same night as is the subject matter of the present case,” Desai stated.