Three hours after he walked out of a Jodhpur jail where he had spent two nights, Bollywood actor Salman Khan returned to his Bandra residence in north-west Mumbai to a hero’s welcome on Saturday night.
After hundreds of his fans greeted him at the Mumbai airport, a rousing reception awaited Salman when he arrived at his “Galaxy” residence at Bandra where thousands of fans had been waiting ever since the Jodhpur court granted bail in the backbucks poaching case.
Salman, who had driven straight from the jail to the Jodhpur airport to take a chartered flight to Mumbai, arrived at his home at 8 pm. Sporting a dark t-shirt, a cap, the actor was accompanied by his sisters Alvira, Arpita and his personal bodyguard Shera.
Thousands of his fans who included mothers with children in their arms, youngsters, elderly men and women, lustily cheered Salman, as he walked inside his residence. Many of his fans displayed placards and banners in support of the actor.
Earlier, his fans went on a frenzy seeing Salman step out of the Mumbai airport. They clicked photographs and took videos of Salman, as he headed to his car to go to his residence.
Salman was seen carrying his nephew, Arpita's one-year old son, in his arms, from the airport longue to his car to return home.
Another round of celebrations awaited the actor near his residence where his fans cheered him, whistled and shouted slogans like “Salman Khan Zindabad”. They burst crackers and distributed sweets.
After 15-odd minutes of his arrival at his residence, Salman – along with his yesteryear script writer-father Salim Khan and all other family members – appeared in the balcony of his residence and waved at his fans for quite some time.
At one stage, he requested his fans with a folded hand to return to their homes as he wanted to have a good sleep, a gesture he made through his hands.
Not wanting to take any chances, the police had deployed 100-odd personnel outside Salman’s residence to control the fans gathered there.
On their part, Salman’s family members had kept a low profile all through the day. So much so that the actor’s father Salim Khan told a television channel that there was nothing celebrate about his son’s return from jail on bail. “There is absolutely no celebration in our household. If anything, we relieved that he has been granted bail and he is returning home," Sr Khan said.
On Thursday, a Jodhpur court had convicted and sentenced Salman to five years’ imprisonment in the 20-year-old Rajasthan blackbucks poaching case.
After he spent two nights in a local jail, a Jodhpur court on Saturday granted bail to Salman against a bond for Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 25,000 surety from two persons each to guarantee that the actor will comply with all bail conditions. The bail documents were be sent to Jodhpur Central Jail around 5 pm and he was released in the next 30 minutes.