Indian court grants bail to Bollywood superstar

Salman Khan has has faced poaching charges numerous times.

A court on Saturday granted bail to Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, who is appealing his conviction on charges of poaching rare deer in a wildlife preserve two decades ago.

Khan was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison on the charges and was immediately sent to jail. Judge Ravindra Kumar Joshi ordered him to sign a surety bond of 50,000 rupees ($985) on Saturday before he could be set free in Jodhpur, a town in western India.

He was likely to be released from jail later Saturday.

Khan’s overjoyed fans danced outside the courtroom and chanted “We love you, Salman.”

Four other Bollywood stars also accused in the case — Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam — were acquitted by Chief Judicial Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri on Thursday. They were in the jeep that Salman Khan was believed to be driving during the hunt in 1998.

Khan says he did not shoot the two blackbuck deer, which are endangered species protected under the India Wildlife Act. The heavily muscled actor was acquitted in two related cases.

His lawyer Mahesh Bora has challenged the conviction and sentence, and Khan will remain free pending the outcome of the appeal.

The 52-year-old Khan has starred in more than 90 Hindilanguage films. But he has also had a reputation as a Bollywood bad boy, known for his run-ins with the law — including a fatal car accident — and his troubled relationships with women.

Khan spent a total of18 days in prison in 1998, 2006 and 2007 in the poaching cases, but was freed on bail.