· Officials unsure whether footage was taken from documentary

· 2 chinkaras injured during the film shooting: eyewitness

· Forest department did not permit commercial use of species

AHMEDABAD: After actor Salman Khan, trouble is now brewing for Aamir Khan over alleged use of chinkaras in the protected chinkara sanctuary in Kutch district, Gujarat.

While the State CID (crime) has been asked to re-investigate poaching charges levelled against Salman Khan while he was shooting in Kutch for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in 1998, the State Forest Department re-opened the case against Aamir Khan for the alleged violation of the Wildlife Act the same year.

Officials of the State Forest Department said Aamir Khan had sought permission to film chinkaras in his film, Lagaan, shooting for which was held mostly in Kutch . The department, however, refused permission for the commercial use of chinkaras, an endangered species. However, when released, the film was found to have footage of the species.

The department had ignored the issue then and closed the matter after some preliminary inquiry. However, following a fresh complaint filed by a Youth Nature Club, the Forest Department reopened the case.

Officials of the department were unsure whether the chinkaras had been filmed in the sanctuary in violation of the Wildlife Act or footage from a documentary on wild life was used. An eyewitness reportedly told the officials that the species was freshly filmed and two chinkaras were injured in the process.

A Forest Department official, however, said there was no evidence to suggest that a chinkara was killed while filming Lagaan.

It might not be difficult for the department to find out some ''eyewitness'' even eight years after the incident because of the anger against him among the locals.

During the shooting, Aamir allegedly promised assistance to some of the drought-prone villages where Lagaan had been filmed. But, villagers said he had failed to keep his promise once shooting was over. The locals further claimed that he had not adopted these villages, as promised, after the 2001 quake.