Bollywood actor Salman Khan on Thursday insisted that he had been wrongly accused of having illegal weapons and killing two blackbucks in Jodhpur in 1998. He came to Jodhpur court in connection with the case on Thursday for the third time.
The actor told the Chief Judicial Magistrate Dalpat Singh Rajpurohit:
Main nirdosh hoon. Mujhe jhootha fasaya gaya hai. (I am not guilty. I have been falsely implicated)
Khan has been accused of using illegal arms to kill protected animals and carrying weapons with expired licences. He has been charged with violating the Arms Act.
Khan’s counsel Hastimal Saraswat said that the court has fixed the next date of hearing on 4 April.
During the hearing, Salman replied to questions regarding his name, father’s name, his age and residential address. Asked about his caste, the actor was silent for a while before replying that he was an Indian.
(Also read: Arms Act Case: Salman Khan Claims Forest Officials Framed Him)
Two blackbucks were killed on the outskirts of Kankani village near Jodhpur triggering outrage. The actor denied all the allegations made by the prosecution’s witnesses.
Khan said he was neither with Shivcharan Bohra, the then forest officer nor did he sign any document.
Asked about the statement of Uday Raghavan, who allegedly brought weapons for Salman from the actor’s Mumbai residence, Khan said that though the letter authorising Raghavan to collect the weapons bears his signature, he was forced to sign it.
The magistrate had dismissed an application submitted by Salman’s counsel to re-examine then collector Rajat Mishra.
The court was to pronounce its judgment on 25 February last year but it was deferred when a few applications for the examining of four witnesses were allowed.
After all four witnesses were examined, Salman Khan appeared before the court on 29 April last year.
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