Wildlife activists burn Salman Khan's effigy, write to President

Unhappy with Salman Khan's acquittal by the Rajasthan High Court in two cases of Chinkara-poaching, wildlife activists on Tuesday burnt an effigy of the actor at the district collectorate in Jodhpur.

The activists assembled at the district collectorate in the afternoon with placards demanding punishment for Khan and staged a sit-in protest.

"We have submitted a memorandum addressing the President of India, seeking his attention to the acquittal of a poacher after 18 long years of litigation and sought his support in the fight for protection of wildlife from poachers," said Pukhraj Kheri, state president of Bishnoi Commando Force.

"We have also asked him to help us know who killed the chinkara then and for his support in the crusade against anti-wildlife forces," he said.

Kheri claimed the acquittal of Khan after 18 years of legal battle would lift the morale of poachers. Khan was acquitted by the Rajasthan High Court on Monday.

Wildlife activists had described the verdict as "a fallout of weak prosecution" and demanded the state government rope in a team of lawyers who had sympathy for wildlife.