Former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar bailed Salman Khan out of jail in this high-profile case: ‘How come noone knew…’
Jagdeep Dhankar, who recently stepped down from the post of Vice President of India, had represented Salman Khan and got him bail when the Jodhpur police arrested him in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case.
Salman Khan with Jagdeep Dhankar after getting bail in 1998 blackbuck poaching case
In September 1998, Salman Khan and his co-stars Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Neelam, and Tabu were accused of hunting two blackbucks in Kankani village near Jodhpur, while shooting Sooraj Barjatya’s Hum Saath Saath Hain in Rajasthan. The members of Bishnoi community filed a complaint against the alleged hunting of the protected species and Salman was arrested by the Jodhpur police in October 1998, before being granted bail. The Sultan actor was then represented by Jagdeep Khankar, who has been making headlines recently after he stepped down as Vice President of India on July 21, citing health concerns.
Salman Khan’s 1998 blackbuck poaching case
Jagdeep’s assistant Praveen Balwada told India Today in 1998, “Dhankhar was the first lawyer to argue the case for Salman Khan when Jodhpur Police arrested him in 1998, and get bail for him and the other accused. That was the only period when Dhankhar represented Salman Khan in the black buck case, and wasn’t engaged in the case at the subsequent stages.” The case went on for two more decades, until 2018 when Salman got a five-year jail term, but was again granted bail within two days.
How ex-VP Jagdeep Dhankar got Salman Khan bail
Jagdeep Dhankar himself talked about the high-profile case in 1998 in his interview with Rediff On The Net. He questioned the missing links in the investigation as he said, “There were 300 people on the sets. How come none knew when the incident occurred? I pleaded before the judge stating that Salman had fully co-operated with the police after his arrest and therefore there is every reason to grant him bail.” “When the villagers say the actors were involved in the killing, why did they not chase them right then rather than lodging a complaint after three weeks?”, he further asked.
Salman Khan’s next film is Battle of Galwan
Meanwhile, on the work front, after the massive failure of Sikandar, Salman Khan will hope to bounce back with his next film Battle of Galwan Valley. The highly anticipated war drama will showcase the intense confrontation between Indian and Chinese troops back in 2020 in the Galwan Valley, a disputed border region in Ladakh. Directed by Apoorva Lakhia and starring Chitrangda Singh as the leading lady, Battle of Galwan will go on floors in August and will release in theatres next year.
