CULTURE
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Indian court jails Bollywood star Salman Khan for five years
Khan was convicted of shooting two rare blackbuck deer in a western India wildlife preserve in 1998.
Indian court jails Bollywood star Salman Khan for five years
Salman Khan was in court for the ruling in the western city of Jodhpur, and can appeal the conviction in a higher court. April 5, 2018 / AFP
April 5, 2018

An Indian court on Thursday jailed Bollywood superstar Salman Khan for five years for killing endangered animals on a hunting trip.

Prosecution lawyer Mahipal Bishnoi told reporters outside the court in the Rajasthan city of Jodhpur: "The court has given a five-year jail term and fined Salman Khan 10,000 rupees ($150)."

The lawyer said an arrest warrant was being prepared for the 52-year-old actor who would be sent to Jodhpur central jail. Khan, who pleaded not guilty, can still appeal.

Khan was found guilty of violating the country's wildlife law in a case of poaching a blackbuck in 1998, an endangered species of antelope. 

Thursday's ruling is not Khan's first brush with the law. In 2015, the Bombay High Court overturned his conviction in a hit-and-run case in which he was accused of running over a group of people sleeping on a city sidewalk, killing one and injuring four.

Khan has churned out a series of blockbuster hits in the last few years. Some of his releases in 2017 were big-ticket films that pulled in billions of rupees at the box-office. 

SOURCE:TRTWorld and agencies