Salman's sisters tie rakhi in jail

Jodhpur, Aug 28 (IANS) Jailed Bollywood star Salman Khan had some reason to cheer Tuesday as his parents visited him and his two sisters tied rakhis and brought him sweets at the central jail here on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

'Four of his family members - father Salim Khan, mother Salma and two sisters Alvira and Arpita - were allowed to meet him in jail on Rakhi,' sources in the jail told IANS.

The family had sought special permission on Monday to meet the actor who has been sentenced to a five-year jail term for killing an endangered chinkara in 1998.

The family met Salman, prisoner no. 343 at the central jail here, for nearly half-an-hour and his sisters tied rakhis on him, the sources said. Arpita also gave him a box of sweets and the actor was quite emotional while meeting them.

Salman reportedly spent a third sleepless night in prison and was quite low on learning that his parents were denied permission to meet him Monday evening as they had come after visiting hours.

'Visitors are allowed between 3-5 p.m. Since they came late, we didn't grant them permission,' said Ota Ram, a jail official.

'Salman refused to eat despite requests from the jailor who brought vegetables and rotis for him,' sources said. But the actor spent time drawing sketches and exercising.

His brother Arbaaz, sister Alvira and girlfriend Katrina Kjaif had visited him in jail Sunday.

The star has been convicted of hunting a chinkara deer at the Ghoda farm near Jodhpur on the night of Sep 28, 1998, while filming Sooraj Barjatya's blockbuster 'Hum Saath Saath Hain'.

On Friday, the district and sessions court here had dismissed the actor's plea against the five-year jail term handed by the chief judicial magistrate's court.

In April last year, Salman had filed an appeal in the district and sessions court against the judgement of the lower court. The court had found Salman guilty under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The Rajasthan High Court is set to hear the actor's revision and bail pleas Wednesday.

Salman has stated that there was no evidence against him in the case and his driver Harish Dulani's testimony in court was not trustworthy, as he has been changing his statements frequently.