BLACKBUCK CASE VERDICT: SALMAN, COSTARS IN JODHPUR

The chief judicial magistrate court will deliver its verdict on Thursday in the case against Bollywood actor Salman Khan, accused of poaching two blackbucks at Kankani village in Jodhpur during the shooting of film Hum Saath Saath Hain on the intervening night of October 1-2, 1998. Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam are accused of abetting poaching and illegal assembly. The actors arrived in Jodhpur on Wednesday afternoon.

JODHPUR: A Jodhpur court will on Thursday announce its verdict in a 1998 blackbuck poaching case, in which Bollywood actor Salman Khan is the prime accused.

Salman is accused of killing two blackbucks, hunting of which is prohibited under the Wildlife Protection Act, at Kankani village in Jodhpur during the shooting of film Hum Saath Saath Hain. Actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam and a local resident, Dushyant Singh, are among the accused in the case.

Salman is facing charges under Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and the other actors have been charged under Section 51 read with Section 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC. Maximum punishment under Section 51 is six years.

All the accused arrived in Jodhpur on Wednesday.

“All of them were in a Gypsy car that night, with Salman Khan in the driving seat. He, on spotting a herd of black bucks, shot at and killed two of them,” Public Prosecutor Bhawani Singh Bhati had said.