Blackbuck poaching: Have been 'falsely implicated', Salman tells court
Jodhpur: Bollywood actor Salman Khan, who was summoned by a trial court in Jodhpur for alleged illegal possession of arms and poaching blackbucks, alleged that he has been framed by forest officials as he recorded his statement on Thursday. "I am innocent and have been framed by the forest officials," Khan said before the chief judicial magistrate.
Referring to a statement signed by him in which a witness Uday Raghvan had stated that he had brought the arms from Mumbai following directions from Khan, the actor claimed that he had signed the statement under pressure from forest officials.
At the start, Khan told the court "I am Indian and that is my caste". The court has now fixed April 4 as the next date of hearing.
#NewsAlert: Salman Khan said in the court that "he was falsely implicated"-Salman Khan's lawyer on Arms Act Case
— Deccan Chronicle (@DeccanChronicle) March 10, 2016
Additional Public Prosecutor Dinesh Tiwari said that the court has given Khan a chance to produce witnesses or evidence in support of his defence. "If he does so, they will be examined in the court otherwise, the case will be listed for final arguments," said Tiwari.
In his statement, the 50-year-old actor refuted the allegations of two other witnesses, Shiv Charan Bohra, a forest official, and Pandat Vijay Narayan, Mumbai police Inspector.
Before this, Khan had appeared for recording of his statement on January 29, 2014 and April 29, 2015. But as an undecided prosecution application surfaced and five prosecution witnesses were re-examined, Khan had to appear for the third time to give his statement.
A complaint was given to the police by forest department on October 15, 1998 claiming that the licences of arms, allegedly in possession of Khan during poaching of blackbucks at Kankani village near here on 1-2 October, 1998, had expired.
Acting on the complaint, the Luni police had registered a case against Khan under sections 3/25 and 3/27 of Arms Act.
Earlier last year, in a major relief to the actor, the Jodhpur court had accepted his plea to produce four witnesses in the case.
The Rajasthan High Court had ordered for the submission of files related to the sanction procedure for prosecution by district collector to the court.
