Indian film star charged with homicide

Salman Khan gave himself up to the police last week

Leading Indian film star Salman Khan has been arrested for culpable homicide following the death of a man in a car accident in Bombay.

Mr Khan was involved in an incident last week in which several homeless people were hit by a car in an area of north Bombay.

The film star has been charged with "culpable homicide not amounting to murder".

He also faces charges of drunk driving and not having a valid licence.

If convicted, he could be jailed for up to 10 years.

However, Mr Khan's family and lawyers have said he was not driving at the time.

Negligent

Last week, the authorities confirmed Mr Khan had consumed more than the legal limit of alcohol allowed by Indian law.

Tests showed he had been drinking

The actor had originally been arrested by the police on lesser charges of rash and negligent driving.

He had then been released on bail of 950 Rupees (around $20).

The action led to allegations of special treatment for Mr Khan - even though he had left the scene at the time of the accident and only surrendered to police some hours later.

The state's Deputy Chief Minister, Chagan Bhujbal, had expressed surprise over the decision to grant him bail on such a low amount.

Mr Bhujbal had then ordered an inquiry into allegations of favouritism.

Last Friday, Mr Khan was ordered to surrender his passport in a sign that the authorities were looking into bringing more serious charges.

Court orders

Meanwhile, a city court on Monday ordered Mr Khan to pay one million Rupees ($20,000) as interim compensation to the family of the man killed in the accident.

The court also asked Mr Khan to pay 300,000 Rupees ($6,000) to those injured.

A police bodyguard assigned to protect the star after he received threats from the Bombay underworld was reportedly in the vehicle at the time of the accident.

According to Indian media reports, the bodyguard has contradicted statements by Mr Khan that he was not driving.