Salman Khan gets jail for poaching

Mumbai: A court issued a non-bailable warrant for Bollywood actor Salman Khan on Friday after rejecting an appeal against his conviction last year for poaching an endangered species of gazelle.

Khan faces a five-year jail sentence for killing gazelle when he was shooting a film nine years ago in western state of Rajasthan.

Police said they would send their officers to fetch Khan after the brawny movie star known for his tough-guy roles in Bollywood movies failed to appear in court.

"Tomorrow a team will set off for Mumbai and they will arrest Salman and bring him here," police official Hawa Singh Ghumaria told AFP in Jodhpur, a city in Rajasthan, after receiving the arrest order from the sessions court.

Dipesh Mehta, Khan's lawyer, told reporters that the 41-year-old would surrender to authorities after the weekend, a Press Trust of India report said.

Wildlife conservationists were elated with the verdict. Kishore Rithe, wildlife conservationist based in Maharashtra, said:

"Now it does not matter whether it's the famous Pataudi or Salman Khan. These judgements are changing the scenario and no one can dare to harm protected wildlife."

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