Now playing: Salman as Qaidi No. 343

JODHPUR: They were mostly teenaged boys and girls. Some of the boys sported the trademark haircut that the Bollywood actor made famous in the box-office blockbuster, Tere Naam. And they waited patiently for their idol. But once Salman Khan emerged from inside the airport, sporting a white T-shirt, cargoes and cool glares, they broke free. Then the scene was more reminiscent of the cinema halls showing his latest blockbuster, Partner.

The fans rushed to touch him, shake his hands and express their sympathies. But cops were swift and determined — lifting them away and driving away with the star.

At 2.05 pm, exactly an hour after he landed — accompanied by brother Sohail, bodyguard Shera and a media contingent — in this Rajasthan town dotted with palaces, forts and temples, Salman Khan was back in the 133-year-old Jodhpur Central Jail for a second time. In April 2006, he was Qaidi No 210. This time Salman is prisoner No 343.

Like last time, he is lodged in the extension of barrack No. 1, popularly known as dheda barrack or barrack No 1.5. The 41-year-old actor’s previous cellmate was Mahesh, a lifer. This time jail authorities are tightlipped about his new cellmate. ‘‘Let us just say, he is safe and secure,’’ senior jail superintendent Ota Ram Rohin told TOI.

For dinner, Salman, whose five-year sentence for poaching chinkaras in 1998 was upheld on Friday, was offered a frugal meal of chapati and lauki ki sabji. As per jail manuals, there are no pillows for him, though he gets two blankets and a bedsheet.

‘‘A medical test will be conducted on him tomorrow,’’ Rohin said. Like his fellow actor and friend Sanjay Dutt, who won temporary bail from his six-year sentence in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, Salman too could get a regulation hair cut since jail rules say prisoners should not sport hair more than an inch long.