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Khan was convicted of shooting two rare blackbuck deer in a western India wildlife preserve in 1998.

Salman Khan was in court for the ruling in the western city of Jodhpur, and can appeal the conviction in a higher court. April 5, 2018 (AFP)

An Indian court on Thursday jailed Bollywood superstar Salman Khan for five years for killing endangered animals on a hunting trip.

Prosecution lawyer Mahipal Bishnoi told reporters outside the court in the Rajasthan city of Jodhpur: "The court has given a five-year jail term and fined Salman Khan 10,000 rupees ($150)."

The lawyer said an arrest warrant was being prepared for the 52-year-old actor who would be sent to Jodhpur central jail. Khan, who pleaded not guilty, can still appeal.

Khan was found guilty of violating the country's wildlife law in a case of poaching a blackbuck in 1998, an endangered species of antelope.

Thursday's ruling is not Khan's first brush with the law. In 2015, the Bombay High Court overturned his conviction in a hit-and-run case in which he was accused of running over a group of people sleeping on a city sidewalk, killing one and injuring four.

Khan has churned out a series of blockbuster hits in the last few years. Some of his releases in 2017 were big-ticket films that pulled in billions of rupees at the box-office.

Source: TRTWorld and agencies