Court upholds 5-year jail term for Bollywood strongman Salman Khan

Bollywood film star Salman Khan has been ordered to serve five years in prison for poaching a gazelle at a wildlife preserve.

An Indian court upheld Khan's conviction on Friday and ordered him to start serving his sentence.

"Salman Khan will have to surrender before the court and be sent to jail to serve the sentence," said prosecutor P.R. Bishnoi, after the ruling at a court in Jodhphur, a city in the northern state of Rajasthan.

Khan had filed an appeal against a 2006 court ruling for poaching a chinkara — an endangered species of gazelle — while shooting a film in Rajasthan state in 1998.

Back then, the court also fined him 25,000 rupees ($600 Cdn).

Khan's lawyers told reporters the actor would appeal against the sentence to the highest court in the state.

Lawyer Dipesh Mehta also said his client would likely surrender once he gets the court order.

This is not Khan's first brush with the law.

The 41-year-old actor has another poaching conviction from 2006, for killing protected black buck antelopes in Rajasthan, and wasgiven a one-year jail sentence. He was granted bail while he appeals that conviction.

Khan is also facing charges of killing a person sleeping on a pavement in Mumbai while driving drunk in 2002. He contends he was not at the wheel.

The brawny actor, known for his macho roles, is the eldest son of Bollywood screenwriter Salim Khan.

Salman's star rose with the release of the hit films Maine Pyar Kiya (I Have Loved) in 1989 and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (What Am I To You) in 1994.

His recent movies include Marigold and Partner.