Salman Khan who was to appear in the Jodhpur District and Sessions Court on September 27 in the 1998 Blackbuck poaching case, did not make an appearance.
Khan’s lawyer Mahesh Bora appealed to the court explaining his busy schedule besides highlighting the recent threats issued on social media against the Bollywood star by SOPU group connected with gangster Lawrence Vishnoi as reasons for the failed appearanse.
The court accepted Khan’s plea and gave December 19 as the next date for hearing.
Another lawyer of the Bollywood actor, Hastimal Saraswat, also moved an application to allow him a breather from attending regular court hearings.
In the last hearing held on July 4, when Khan did not attend the hearing, the court gave a strong reprieve asking him to remain present during the September 27 hearing else face strict action.
The blackbuck hunting case dates back to 1998 during the shoot of ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’. Khan had filed a plea against his conviction by a lower court, which had sentenced him to five years in jail after he was accused of killing two blackbucks.
Elsewhere, Khan’s name also cropped in the media a day earlier after a former bodyguard of the actor created ruckus in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, while reportedly high of steroids.
Anaz Qureshi, the former bodyguard, had to be overpowered using ropes and a fishing net before he could be taken into custody by the police.
Local residents said they were shocked and frightened to see a bare-chested Qureshi roughing up pedestrians and hurling bricks at the vehicles. He later got hold of an iron rod and vandalised several cars parked on the stretch.
A video of the incident, which later went viral, showed hundreds of people, along with local police and fire brigade team, trying to get hold of the bodybuilder.
Police reports said Qureshi had consumed an overdose of steroids and lost his mind as a side-effect. He was taken to the district hospital from where he was referred to a mental hospital.
According to his neighbours, Qureshi, who works as a bouncer in Mumbai, used to serve as part of Khan’s private security headed by Shera until around two years ago.
He is currently deployed in the security of a minister in Maharashtra.
