A forest department official who was present at the Ghora farm house area near Jodhpur in Rajasthan while Bollywood actor Salman Khan was hunting the protected 'chinkaras' (deer species) in 1998, remembers him as a person `scared' of being beaten up by the local Bishnoi community.

"Salman was scared after being apprehended by the local Bishnois and wanted protection so that he would not be beaten up," R L Meena, presently a conservator of forest at Kutch district, who was on deputation as a director of a central institute in Jodhpur told.

"Myself and my staff at the Arid forest Research Institute used to get information about such poaching activity and used to pass it to the concerned forest guards and local police. On that day (September 27, 1998) Salman was caught by the Bishnois and they informed us," Meena said recounting the incidents.

"When he was brought before officials he was very scared as the Bishnois can go to any extent to protect the wildlife of the region. Officials had to keep him safe from the angry public," the forest official said.

Salman Khan has been sentenced to five years jail by a sessions court in Jodhpur in the poaching case where he hunted the protected deer species.