Posted:
An important witness against Salman Khan in an 18-year-old case of killing protected antelopes or chinkara in Rajasthan has told NDTV that he has been living in fear and never testified in court because his family had been threatened.
Harish Dulani, the driver of the jeep used by Mr Khan during an alleged hunt in 1998 during a movie shoot, has been missing since 2002, which weakened the prosecution's case.
Earlier this week, the 50-year-old star was acquitted by the Rajasthan High Court in two cases for lack of evidence.
Mr Dulani, who drove Salman Khan for a week, said he is ready to go to the court and testify in a third case that is yet to be decided - the alleged poaching of endangered blackbuck - but is scared.
I want to appeal to NDTV that my life is in danger. I am ready to go to court but I want protection," he said. He is not the main witness in that case.
While dropping charges against Mr Khan on Monday, the court overturned earlier verdicts that sentenced him to jail and said there was no evidence to prove that the deer found dead were shot with Mr Khan's licensed gun.
The court found Mr Dulani to be unreliable and said he was never available for cross-examination.
"I am not an absconder. My father received threats, I got scared and left home.If I had police protection, I could have given a statement. That was what I always intended," said Mr Dulani, claiming that he was threatened every time he tried to attend a court hearing.
His statement was also pronounced dubious by the court; according to him, Salman Khan was driving the gypsy and shooting the deer at the same time.
"I stick to the statement I made before a magistrate 18 years ago," Mr Dulani said today.
In 2007, Mr Khan spent a week in jail in Jodhpur before being granted bail.
Mr Dulani was sacked by the car company that hired him to drive the Gypsy used by Mr Khan. He says over the years, he has shifted home multiple times and could never hold down a job for fear of being recognized and targeted.
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