Indian High Court acquits Bollywood actor in antelope poaching cases

The High Court in the western Indian state of Rajasthan Monday acquitted the country's leading Bollywood actor Salman Khan in two cases of poaching of endangered and protected antelopes twice in 1998.

The High Court gave the 50-year-old actor benefit of doubt in the two cases, saying that there was no evidence to prove that the two dead animals were shot by Khan's licensed gun, and overturned an order of a lower court that had sentenced him to five years in jail.

The actor's acquittal came after he had approached the Rajasthan High Court against the order of the lower court, with his lawyer HM Saraswat claiming that both the cases against his client were "absolutely false".

Local TV channels reported that the prosecution's case was also weakened by the fact that the driver of the jeep that was used by Khan and his co-stars for their alleged hunt has been missing.

Khan and seven others were accused of killing a blackbuck and chinkara in two separate incidents. One of the animals was killed on the outskirts of the city of Jodhpur in Rajasthan on September 26 and the other on September 28 in the same year of 1998.

In 2007, the actor had spent a week in jail in Jodhpur before being granted bail. And a third case of poaching is yet to be decided by the court. Endit