No bail for 'sleepless' Salman
After being on the floor sleepless and distraught, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, now Prisoner 106, will have to spend at least another night in jail.
Khan, one of the world's highest paid actors, was imprisoned for five years Thursday after a court convicted him for killing rare antelopes known as black bucks on a hunting trip while shooting a movie in 1998.
Khan's lawyer asked for bail but the plea was adjourned after a judge said he wanted to see the entire case record.
The court is to sit again today.
The 52-year-old action star has denied killing the black bucks. His conviction shocked fans and the Bollywood elite.
Hundreds flocked to his home in Mumbai to show solidarity with the star who moved from his luxury apartment to sleeping on the floor of a cell in the Jodhpur Central Jail.
"Everyone knows that he is used to the lavish lifestyle, which is why he was unable to sleep," the Deccan Herald newspaper said, quoting an unnamed jail official.
"He laid down on blankets spread on the floor. He hardly slept. At 6:00 am in the morning, the sound of siren woke him up."
Jail Superintendent Vikram Singh said no special arrangements have been made for Khan who is now Prisoner 106 and was served a dinner of lentils and cabbage like other inmates on his first night.
According to sources, the star was depressed and even skipped his dinner, reported NDTV.
“He underwent the mandatory medical test and he has no medical issues. He hasn't made any demands. We will give him jail uniform tomorrow. Multiple-layer security has been put up for his ward,” Singh added.
The actor also complained about lesser number (8-9) of toilets in the jail where there are about 100 inmates and recalled his offer made in 2006 (when he was in the same jail for a week for his conviction for another poaching) to fund construction of more toilets in the prison, our New Delhi correspondent said quoting Singh.
Khan has accused Rajasthan's forest department of trying to frame him.
His lawyers claim the black bucks died of natural causes such as overeating, claiming there was no evidence the animals were shot.
Four other Bollywood stars -- Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam Kothari -- who were also accused in the case were acquitted for lack of evidence.
Film industry analysts say Khan has nearly $90 million riding on him with at least three big projects in the pipeline.
The case, which has dogged Khan for 20 years, has seen him held in custody three times before.
In 1998, Khan spent a week in prison after being accused of using unlicensed arms to shoot the black bucks.
Khan was also found guilty of killing gazelles on the same trip and served very brief stints in jail in 2006 and 2007, but was later acquitted on appeal.
The actor affectionately called "bhai", or "brother" in Hindi, enjoys a cult-like status with the majority of his devotees young men who envy Khan's glamorous lifestyle.
The latest verdict has triggered a wave of sympathy for the "bad boy" of Hindi cinema whose life has been dogged by controversies.
Khan, who has had a string of glamorous relationships but never married, was cleared in 2015 of killing a homeless man in a hit-and-run accident. That decision is now being challenged in the Supreme Court.
He was also accused of assaulting a former Miss World and provoked a firestorm in 2016 by saying his workout schedule for a film left him feeling "like a raped woman".