Mumbai: In a statement that is bound to trigger controversy, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal has given a communal angle to the verdict pronounced by a sessions court here on Wednesday in the 2002 hit-and run case involving Bollywood heavyweight Salman Khan.

Media reports on Thursday quoted the senior SP leader as saying, “ We are very sad. He (Salman) is a very big star. He has crores of fans across the country. But if the Maharashtra government has convicted him just because he belongs to the minority community, then it is an unfair decision.”

However, the SP later, later clarified that he was quoted out of context.

Sessions court judge DW Deshpande yesterday found Salman khan guilty of all the charges and pronounced a jail term of 5 years as punishment.

Salman was sentenced for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and driving without licence.

He was also held guilty of rash and negligent driving - for ramming his Land Cruiser into the American Express Bakery after running over Nurullah Mahboob Sharif in September 2002.