Relieved Salman thanks fans for support post acquittal

Mumbai, July 25 : Bollywood star Salman Khan, who was earlier today acquitted of all charges in both the 1998 chinkara and blackbuck poaching cases, thanked his fans for their support and prayers.

"Thank you for your support and prayers," Salman tweeted. Khan was reportedly not present in the Rajasthan High Court when the verdict was announced. According to reports, there were two possible outcomes ahead of the hearing today in which one was that Khan could have walked free and the sentence could have been lowered from five years and the second one was that if Salman was convicted, a warrant would have been issued and he could have been sent to jail.

Khan had earlier appealed before the High Court challenging the lower court's verdict that had handed him one and five years' imprisonment in the two separate cases of poaching.

Khan and seven others are accused of killing a blackbuck and chinkara in two separate incidents. One of the animals was killed at Bhawad on the outskirts of Jodhpur on September 26, 1998, and the other at Ghoda Farms on September 28, 1998.

At that time, they were shooting for the film "Hum Sath Sath Hain"..