There has been no headway in a case of poaching registered in Kutch against actor Salman Khan, already convicted in two similar cases in Rajasthan, due to the mysterious disappearance of some important papers.

Gujarat’s forest department initially probed the case and then sought its closure for want of evidence. The state government then asked the CID to re-investigate the case involving Salman, who was accused of having killed two chinkaras during the shooting of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in Kutch in 1998, official sources said.

The CID has repeatedly asked the forest department to provide it with documents related to the case but the latter’s reply that the papers were missing has confounded sleuths and virtually grounded the probe, the sources said.

“The statements of witnesses and other documents related to the inquiry conducted by forest officials are missing from our records. We have not been able to find them,” R L Meena, Conservator of Forests (Kutch Circle), said. “The state government and the CID have been told about the disappearance of the papers related to the chinkara hunting case involving Salman and the initiation of a departmental inquiry against those concerned,” he said.

Salman has appealed against his conviction in two poaching cases in Rajasthan and a court in Jodhpur will give its decision on one of these appeals on August 24.

Principal Secretary P N Roychaudhary of the forest and environment department said the disappearance of the papers was the reason behind asking the CID to conduct a fresh probe into the case. CID officials said they are considering initiating action against forest officials for their failure to provide papers related to the nine-year-old poaching incident.