Salman Not Alone, These Fellow Stars Have Spent Time in Jail

There is an array of stars, other than Salman Khan, who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has been convicted in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case by the Jodhpur court. He has been held guilty of killing two blackbucks in Kankani village near Jodhpur in October 1998 during the shooting of the film Hum Saath Saath Hain and has been sentenced to five years in jail. The court, however, acquitted actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam Kothari, Sonali Bendre .

But Salman bhai (as he is often called) is not the only Bollywood star to be sentenced a jail term. Khan joins a line of stars who found themselves on the wrong side of the law. Here’s a quick look:

1. Sanjay Dutt

Bollywood got a rude shock when Sanjay Dutt’s name surfaced in the Mumbai bomb blast case. Sanjay was held guilty for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bombings that killed 257 people in Mumbai. The Supreme Court sentenced him to five years in jail in 2013 for illegal weapons possession under Section 15 of TADA.

Sunil and Nargis Dutt's son was arrested on 19 April 1993, for possession and destruction of an AK-56 rifle, which was a part of a cache of arms and explosives that had landed in India prior to the blasts of March 1993.

On 31 July 2007, a TADA court in Mumbai sentenced him to six years' rigorous imprisonment under the Arms Act and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on him.

He finally put his turbulent past behind him when he was released after spending 42 months in the Yerawada jail in 2016.

2. Shiney Ahuja

Shiney Ahuja was on his way to becoming the next big thing in Bollywood with his brooding persona in films such as Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi and Gangster but his career went south when his domestic help accused him of rape in 2009.

She later retracted her charge but the trial court judge refused to accept it and convicted Ahuja based on circumstantial evidence.

A fast track court sentenced him to seven years of rigorous imprisonment in 2011. His appeal is pending in the Bombay High Court.

3. Sooraj Pancholi

Sooraj Pancholi, whose career was launched by Khan, hit the headlines even before his debut following actor-singer Jiah Khan's mysterious suicide. He was briefly jailed on charges of abetting her suicide but was later released on bail.

The case is still to conclude.

4. Monica Bedi

Actor Monica Bedi spent almost two years in jail when she was arrested along with underworld don Abu Salem on a fake passport case after they were extradited from Portugal. She was released from a Hyderabad jail in 2007.

5. Saif Ali Khan

Saif had had another brush with the law in 2012 when he was accused of punching a businessmen during a dinner outing at a five-star hotel in Mumbai. He was booked for assault under section 325 of the IPC and was arrested, only to be released on bail.

6. John Abraham

John Abraham has also had a brush with the law. In 2006, he had injured two people with his speeding bike. Finding him guilty, the Bandra Court had pronounced a 15-day jail sentence against him. But the Bombay High Court gave him bail.

7. Fardeen Khan

Bollywood actor Fardeen Khan was arrested by the Mumbai police for drug (cocaine) possession in 2001. However, his clean record came to his rescue, after which he underwent a detoxification course. In 2012, the actor was granted bail with immunity in the drug case.

(With inputs from PTI)