Actor Salman Khan has been sentenced to five years in jail in the two-decade-old blackbuck poaching case. The 52-year-old actor was found guilty of hunting blackbuck while working on the film Hum Saath Saath Hain in 1998. He was present in the Jodhpur court along with his co-stars Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam when he was awarded the sentence. His co-actors from the movie – Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam – have been acquitted in the case.

The blackbuck is an endangered species and is protected under the Indian Wildlife Act. The poaching had taken place near a village of Bishnois, a community that revers blackbuck and is passionate about protecting these animals.