Salman Khan granted bail ; strips shirt to greet fans ...

Indo-Asian News Service

Jodhpur, (IANS) Bollywood star Salman Khan

was free to go home Thursday after a court here granted him bail,

ending his three-night jail spell for killing a chinkara, a protected

species of gazelle.

In the district and sessions court, which put in suspension the

five-year sentence of the lower court, were Salman's friends and

family. Directors David Dhawan and Sajid Nadiadwala, actor Govinda,

brother Sohail and sister Alvira were present in court. His girlfriend

Katrina Kaif was also present in the morning.

"The district and sessions court granted bail to Salman on a

personal bond of Rs.200,000 and two personal sureties of Rs.100,000

each," the actor's counsel Hastimal Saraswat told IANS.

The actor is expected to fly back to Mumbai later Thursday, maybe on

the chartered flight of NRI friend Anoop Paul, who had come to see him

Wednesday, friends close to the actor said.

His counsel had cited 38 reasons for an early hearing of the bail

application, including his mother's sickness.

Salman was first asked to deposit the fine amount of Rs.25,000 and

then granted bail.

The bail application had been filed in the district and sessions

court here Wednesday.

The chief judicial magistrate had Monday sentenced Khan to five

years "rigorous" imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs.25,000 in

connection with the poaching of the endangered chinkara in the Ghoda

farm near here in September 1998.

Salman, who faces four cases in Jodhpur, was earlier sentenced to

one-year imprisonment by the same court Feb 17 for killing of two

chinkaras in the same year when he was shooting for the film "Hum Saath

Saath Hain". The other cases relate to the poaching of blackbucks and

one under the Arms Act.

Editor's Note: Later Salman was spotted on a building roof, stripping his shirt to greet fans.