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Bollywood star sent to jail for poaching(UPI Entertainment News Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Bollywood star Salman Khan was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $550 for a second conviction of poaching rare antelope in Jodphur, India. Khan, 40, who has repeatedly denied killing the revered black buck on a 1998 hunting trip, was visibly upset as he was escorted into a police van and transported to the city's central jail, the BBC reported Monday. Under Indian law a sentence over three years for violating conservation laws means immediate imprisonment. We will file an appeal on Wednesday, Khan's lawyer, Hastimal Saraswat, said. A witness testified he saw Salman Khan kill one of the protected animals, the BBC said. However, the actor's legal team said the witness has now retracted his testimony. Bollywood stars Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre have also been charged for being on the illegal hunting expedition. The crime was considered particularly heinous because the black buck is worshipped by the local Bishnoi community, the BBC said. Salman Khan was sentenced to a year in prison for an earlier poaching case in February but remained free pending his appeal of that conviction. |