A key witness who turned hostile in the 1998 chinkara poaching case  for which Salman Khan [Images] was sentenced to five years in prison, has claimed that he had been absconding since 2001 due to a threat to his life and inadequate police protection.

Appearing before the police last night, Harish Dulani did not disclose who the people threatening him were.

The court had convicted Salman for killing chinkaras at the Ghoda Farm while he was shooting for the movie Hum Saath Saath Hai. Dulani said he appeared before the police to receive a notice issued by the court against him for allegedly giving a false statement. He said he had been pressurised to make a statement that he had seen the actor killing the endangered animal.

Dulani has come to the limelight after a Mumbai-based film producer offered him the role of a driver in his film Quadi No 210, based on the poaching case against Salman. After two days of drama following media reports regarding his probable appearance in the film, he approached the Sardarpura Police Station in Jodhpur with his lawyer Anil Gaur and received the notice issued by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate.