Salman Khan convicted in blackbuck poaching case; big films in pipeline, crores at stake

Mumbai: A Jodhpur court on Thursday convicted Bollywood actor Salman Khan in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case. The other actors - Tabu, Neelam, Saif Ali Khan and Sonali Bendre have been acquitted.

Salman has been convicted under Section 9/51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.

The quantum of punishment has been prononced and Salman has been sentenced to 5 years in jail. 

This verdict is of great concern to Bollywood as crores of rupees are at stake.

Salman recently completed shooting the Abu Dhabi schedule of Remo D'Souza's Race 3, a film which is scheduled to hit theatres on June 15 on the occasion of Eid. 

Besides Race 3, Salman has Atul Agnihotri's Bharat to be directed by Ali Abbas Zafar in his kitty. 

And after Bharat, Salman is expected to start shooting for the third instalment of blockbuster franchise Dabangg co-starring Sonakshi Sinha.

Not just this, the second instalment of Kick too has been announced and the makers are keen to release the film which is yet to go on floors on Christmas 2019.

Apart from Race 3, Salman has TV show Dus Ka Dum scheduled to go on air in the next few months. Moreover, the makers of Bigg Boss would love to have him as the host of the twelfth season of the reality show. For the uninitiated, Salman has been associated with Bigg Boss since the fourth season and it has been over 8 years he is the face of the show.

Salman, 52, has been accused of killing two blackbucks in Bhagoda ki Dhani in Kankani village near Jodhpur on the intervening night of October 1-2, 1998. He was in Jodhpur then along with his co-stars to shoot Sooraj Barjatya's movie Hum Saath Saath Hain.

(With PTI inputs)