Actor Salman Khan was convicted and sentenced to five years in jail in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case on Thursday.
The other four actors—Saif Ali, Sonali Bendre, Neelam and Tabu—have been acquitted by the Jodhpur court. Salman was accused of killing two blackbucks in the Kankani village near Jodhpur in 1998 during the shooting of the film Hum Saath Saath Hain.
The Jodhpur Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on March 25 under Jodhpur District Presiding Officer Devkumar Khatri issued the date for the judgment in the 20-year-old case.
Jeev Raksha Bishnoi Sabha has protested against the decision of acquitting the other accused stars. Their acquittal will be challenged in the high court, said Shivraj Bishnoi, state president of the organisation.
Salman, 52, was taken to the Jodhpur Central jail from the court premises in a police vehicle, police officials said. As the sentence is more than three years, Salman will have to appeal in higher court for bail.
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.
-with inputs from agencies