JODHPUR, India, 26 August 2007 — Top Bollywood actor Salman Khan was sent to jail yesterday after an Indian court rejected an appeal against his conviction for killing a rare gazelle, police said.
Police arrested Salman in the western city of Jodhpur where the actor arrived by plane from his home in Mumbai, home to India’s Hindi-language film industry.
He will have to spend the weekend in custody before he can file another appeal in a higher court and apply for bail again tomorrow.
“We will apply for bail, as soon as the court opens,” Salman’s lawyer Dipesh Mehta told reporters.
Salman’s arrest came after a court in Jodhpur on Friday threw out an appeal by the actor against his conviction, under which has to serve a five-year prison term.
The 41-year-old actor looked composed as he was taken to the jail after his arrest at the airport. Scores of fans thronged the jail and Salman’s Mumbai residence as he left earlier yesterday to turn himself in.
“As a responsible citizen and somebody who abides by the law, I think I should surrender myself,” Salman told reporters in Mumbai.
“Allah is Great. Insha Allah (God Willing) I will emerge victorious,” were the first words that Salman said to this Arab News correspondent soon after emerging out of his residence at Galaxy Apartments in suburban Bandra to catch a flight for Jodhpur.
“I would honor the judicial verdict, but its unfair, that while six others have been acquitted, I’m the only one which the court had convicted,” he said.
Salman look unperturbed by the developments and said that as a responsible citizen, he respects the judiciary.
“Salman, we are with you,” his fans shouted as he was taken to the prison by several policemen.
Prior to leaving his residence for the airport, Salman hugged his brothers actors Arabaaz Khan, Sohail Khan and sister-in-law actress Malaika Khan Arora. His mother Salma Khan wept openly and his father writer Javed Khan remained shell-shocked. Bollywood actors Govinda, Aditya Pancholi, Shahrukh Khan and director Subash Ghai, had visited Salman on Friday evening and consoled him.
His heartbroken father, Salim Khan, said: “I would not like to comment on the judgment as the legal process is still in progress, but I feel disappointed, as my son has been convicted, though he was not alone in the hunting game but others too had participated equally in it, yet others were set free and Salman alone was convicted. This is not justice at all,” he said.
The actor has also been convicted under India’s Wildlife Protection Act in at least one other poaching case.
Salman, known for playing a tough guy in Hindi films, also faces charges of manslaughter after a road accident in 2002 left one person dead and four injured.
He has denied allegations he was at the wheel, drunk and had no license when his car ran over people who were sleeping on a Mumbai sidewalk.
— With additional input from agencies.
