Salman's Rajasthan driver claims actor did shoot chinkara

Though the Rajasthan high court on Monday acquitted actor Salman Khan of charges that he shot endangered chinkara, Harish Dulani, his driver on the day in question, stands by his statement that the actor did shoot the deer.

Dulani had been reported missing for much of the 18 years since the case was filed against Salman Khan, and said he had been in hiding out of fear, according to NDTV. He claimed that every time he tried to attend a hearing of the case in court, he was threatened.

Dulani had driven the car that Salman used in 1998, while he was in Rajasthan for a film shoot. The hunt for deer took place during a break in the shoot, and Dulani told a magistrate when the case was filed that he had driven the actor during the hunt and that Salman had shot the deer.

However, Dulani did not attend a single court hearing thereafter, and the actor was acquitted for lack of evidence.

Dulani said: "I am not an absconder. My father received threats, I got scared and left home. If I had police protection, I could have given a statement. That was what I always intended."

He now claims that he will testify in the case that Salman shot endangered black buck which is yet to be decided, but only if he has protection.

"My life is in danger. I am ready to go to court but I want protection," he said.