Mumbai:

A man illegally entered a location where Salman Khan was shooting for a film in Mumbai and, when questioned, asked whether he should call gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, police sources said. 

The officials said Mr Khan was shooting for a film in Dadar’s Shivaji Park area on Wednesday when the man entered the venue. Finding his movements suspicious, some people asked him what he was doing, only for the man to respond: “Bishnoi ko bulau kya? (Should I call Lawrence Bishnoi?)”.

The man has been taken to the Shivaji Park police station, where he is being questioned. 

The Bishnoi gang had claimed responsibility for the shooting outside Salman Khan’s house in Mumbai’s Bandra in April. The actor’s name had also come up when the Bishnoi gang said it had killed former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique in Bandra in October. A member of the gang had allegedly said that the politician was close to Salman Khan and that anyone who helped the actor would also be in its crosshairs. 

The actor has been receiving a string of threats, especially since Baba Siddique’s killing, and some of them have also turned out to be fake. Last month, a 24-year-old lyricist of a song in an upcoming Salman Khan was arrested for sending a threat to the actor and himself, purportedly from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Police had said the lyricist had called the Mumbai traffic control room and issued the threat because he wanted the song, which mentions Bishnoi, to get publicity.

In October, another person had called up the Mumbai police control room and threatened that the actor would be killed unless he paid Rs 2 crore as ransom. 

Why Salman Khan?

The Bishnoi gang, which became a household name after claiming responsibility for murdering musician Sidhu Moose Wala in 2022, has said it wants to kill Salman Khan because of his alleged involvement in shooting blackbucks at Bawad in Mathania near Jodhpur in September 1998, during the filming of ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’.

The alleged act had upset the Bishnoi community, which considers the blackbuck sacred.

Lawrence Bishnoi had also said during a court appearance in 2018: “We will kill Salman Khan in Jodhpur. Everyone will know once we take action. I have not done anything as of now, they are accusing me of crimes for no reason.”

A verbal clash between actor Salman Khan and fintech entrepreneur Ashneer Grover marked the latest episode of Bigg Boss 18 Weekend Ka Vaar. The episode saw Mr Khan calling out the BharatPe co-founder and former managing director’s “doglapan”, which means ‘double standards’ and is also the name of a book by Mr Grover.

Calling out Ashneer Grover for his previous statements about the actor, Salman asked, “I have heard you speaking about me. You said, ‘We signed him for this much, signed him for that much,’ and all your figures were wrong. So then, what is with the double standards?]”

“Doglapan” is a term that became popular after Ashneer Grover used it on Shark Tank India in 2021.

In response to Salman Khan’s remarks, Ashneer Grover shared a long post on LinkedIn, clarifying every comment and statement. He wrote, “I hope you enjoyed the Bigg Boss weekend ka vaar! I had good fun. And I am sure the particular episode got great TRP / viewership. BTW all of the statements below are TRUE: Salman is a great host & actor. Salman knows what works on Bigg Boss. I’ve always praised Salman for his sense of self and business – not a single thing demeaning said for him ever. My deal numbers are always correct (bank / auditor verified). Met Salman in an exclusive meeting on the brand collab for 3 hours in May 2019 in JW Marriott Juhu – along with the director of ad (it’s ok if he doesn’t remember me – I was not a public figure then – he meets tons of people). The invite for coming as guest on Bigg Boss was not ‘unnamed’ – just like the cheque for the same And finally I’ve a pic with him – which I didn’t earlier (with no managers around). Thanks Salman Khan. Keep rocking!”

What Happened On Bigg Boss 18:

For context, in April 2022, in conversation with the students of Lovely Professional University, Ashneer Grover recalled how he signed Salman Khan. He said, Mr Khan asked for Rs. 7.5 crore. When asked to reduce his fee, Mr Khan’s manager allegedly said, “Sir aap bhindi khareedne aaye ho kya? Kitni maandvali karoge?” (Sir, are you here to buy vegetables? How much more will you bargain?)

Salman Khan brought up this statement on the show and said that the figures quoted are incorrect.

Ashneer Grover clarified, “Maybe in the podcast, it did not come across correct.”

Salman Khan fired back, “But the way you are talking now, and the video I saw of you, this wasn’t your attitude back then.”

The shots were fired when Mr Khan revealed that he was unaware of Ashneer Grover’s name until his name was announced.

“I just got to know that you are coming here. I did not know your name also. Since I had seen your video, I recognised your face. I think you should be careful about how you present yourself,” Mr Khan added. Mr Grover once also called out Mr Khan’s “heropanti” after the actor’s manager instructed him not to take a picture with Mr Khan, citing the actor’s discomfort.

But this time, on the show, Mr Grover “finally” got clicked.

Mumbai:

The plan to assassinate former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Baba Siddique was conceived just 10 days after the shooting incident outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s residence on April 14, Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch sources have said. 

Two men on motorbikes fired multiple rounds outside Mr Khan’s residence in Bandra in April, leading to the arrest of several individuals. Sources revealed that following the incident, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang sought to target individuals close to the actor. Baba Siddique, a close friend of Salman Khan, emerged as a prime target. 

Investigations have revealed the gang’s reliance on “dabba calling,” an illegal telephone exchange system, to coordinate the murder. “Dabba Calling” is a term likely derived from the use of a secondary phone (dabba) to issue threats. Anmol Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother, allegedly used this system extensively to instruct key operatives, including Shiv Kumar Gautam, Zeeshan Akhtar, Shubham Lonkar, and Sujit Singh.

The gang had established its own telecommunication hub. This network ensured real-time coordination during the crime while shielding the conspirators from police tracking.

Baba Siddique, aged 66, was gunned down near his son and MLA Zeeshan Siddique’s Bandra office on October 12. According to Crime Branch sources, Shiv Kumar Gautam, believed to be the lead shooter, lingered at the crime scene for 20 minutes post-attack.

Gautam discarded a bag containing his pistol, shirt, and Aadhaar card before blending into the panicked crowd. Witnessing the chaos and police presence, he took further steps to avoid detection, including changing his clothes and returning to the scene to gauge the situation.

Later, Gautam reportedly boarded an autorickshaw and headed to Lilavati Hospital to confirm Mr Siddique’s death. At 10:47 pm, he left for Kurla railway station, discarding his mobile phone en route to eliminate potential evidence. Authorities are still working to recover the device.

Further probing revealed that Shubham Lonkar, another suspect, had undergone weapons training in the dense forests near Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, in July. Crime Branch officials suspect that Lonkar’s training, involving an AK-47, was facilitated by Maoists, though this connection remains under investigation. 

New Delhi:

In a twist worthy of a Bollywood movie, the 24-year-old lyricist of a song in an upcoming Salman Khan film has been arrested for issuing a death threat – purportedly from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang – to the actor and himself. Police said the lyricist had called the Mumbai traffic control room because he wanted the song, which mentions Bishnoi, to get publicity.

Sohail Pasha was arrested from Raichur in Karnataka on Tuesday, days after the WhatsApp helpline of the city police received a message on November 7 threatening that Mr Khan and the lyricist of the song ‘Main Sikandar Hun’ would be killed if Rs 5 crore was not paid.

“The songwriter’s condition will be such that he will no longer be able to write songs. If Salman Khan has the courage, he should save them,” the threat message read.

Police said the threat was sent by Pasha because he wanted the song, and him, to become famous.

The threat came at a time when Mr Khan had been receiving multiple warnings allegedly from Bishnoi and his associates, who have previously targeted him over alleged grievances stemming from a 1998 blackbuck poaching case. Khan’s security was upgraded to Y-plus category after shots were fired outside his home in Mumbai in April.

According to the police, the crime branch tracked down the mobile number from which the latest warnings were issued to Raichur. An official said a team was sent to Karnataka and Vyankatesh Narayan, who owned the number, was interrogated. They found that his phone had no access to the internet.

It then came to light that Narayan’s phone had received a one-time password (OTP) for installation WhatsApp. Narayan subsequently told police that on November 3, a stranger approached him in a market and asked if he could have his phone to make a call.

Further investigation revealed that the man had installed WhatsApp on his own phone by using Narayan’s mobile number to obtain an OTP, an official said The crime branch team then zeroed in on Pasha at Manavi village near Raichur.

Pasha was taken to Mumbai and produced in court, which sent him to police custody for two days.

New Delhi:

Lawrence Bishnoi, the alleged mastermind behind the killings of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique and Punjabi singer-politician Sidhu Moose Wala, was arrested for the first time about 13 years ago when he set fire to some vehicles in Chandigarh after a fight with a student leader.

Bishnoi, who was involved in student politics at Panjab University back then, was in police custody for a day, former Chandigarh inspector Amanjot Singh told NDTV on Tuesday.

A son of a police constable in Punjab, he was only 18 when he set vehicles parked outside Sector 11 in Chandigarh on fire, the officer said.

“He was very innocent at that time. When the police used to arrest him, he sometimes called the officials uncle or sir,” Mr Singh said.

“He did whatever his party leadership told him,” Mr Singh said, adding that he “never thought” that Bishnoi would become “such a big gangster”.

ALSO READ | Lawrence Bishnoi Has 700 Shooters On Call. How He Operates From Jail

Mr Singh, who arrested the 31-year-old dreaded gangster numerous times, said that when Bishnoi was arrested for the sixth time, he had said that the “police of 7-8 states will search” for him.

Lawrence Bishnoi first grabbed headlines when he publicly threatened to kill Bollywood actor Salman Khan in 2018, accusing him of allegedly poaching two blackbuck antelopes – a revered animal for Rajasthan’s Bishnoi community to which he belongs.

During a court appearance in Jodhpur, Bishnoi said, “We will kill Salman Khan. Everyone will know once we take action.”

Incidentally, Baba Siddique, who was shot dead by three persons in Mumbai last month, was known to be Salman Khan’s close friend.

Bishnoi is also the prime accused in the murder of Sidhu Moose Wala, who was shot dead in Punjab in 2022.

“Lawrence Bishnoi Transformed In Jail”

Mr Singh said that Lawrence Bishnoi initially worked on his party leadership’s instructions but later “transformed” in the jail.

“Initially, he kept working on his party leadership’s instructions. But when he kept going to jail, his transformation happened very fast. He came in contact with big gangsters and his influence kept increasing,” he said.

ALSO READ | “We Stand With Lawrence Bishnoi”: Jailed Gangster’s Family Breaks Silence

“When he kept going to jail again and again, there were some prisoners in the jail, who had committed big crimes, who felt that there was something special about Bishnoi. They then started using him,” Mr Singh said.

They took him under their protection because they knew that Bishnoi was going to get bail, he added.

Lawrence Bishnoi Met His “Mentor” Rocky Fazilka In Jail

Lawrence Bishnoi considered gangster Ranjit Jasvinder Singh, alias Rocky Fazilka, as his mentor, Amanjot Singh said.

“When Lawrence Bishnoi went to Banda jail in Uttar Pradesh, he met another gangster Ranjit Singh “Dupla”, who was very close to Rocky Fazilka. He was the one who introduced him to Fazilka,” Mr Singh said.

ALSO READ | “Wanted Canada To Extradite Bishnoi Gang Members”: India On Diplomatic Row

Rocky Fazilka, a resident of Punjab’s Ferozepur, was impressed by Bishnoi and took him under his custody.

As their villages were nearby, they became close aides, Mr Singh said.

Bishnoi has been in prison since 2015 and is currently lodged in Gujarat.

New Delhi:

Shiv Kumar Gautam, the main accused in the murder case of Maharashtra politician Baba Siddique, has made big revelations during police interrogation. The 20-year-old was arrested along with his four aides from Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich on Sunday while he was trying to flee to Nepal. He is among the three shooters who shot dead Mr Siddique outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai on October 12.

During interrogation, he told the police that Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, had told him to shoot the 66-year-old NCP leader or his son, Zeeshan, police sources said.

“Shoot whoever you see first,” Anmol apparently told Shiv Kumar.

Before carrying out the murder, Anmol Bishnoi, who is believed to be in Canada and is also on the most-wanted list of the National Investigation Agency, had given a pep talk to Shiv Kumar.

Mumbai police crime branch sources said Anmol told him what he was going to do was for “God and the society.”

A picture of Zeeshan Siddique, 32, was reportedly found on a cell phone seized from one of the three men who shot his father.

Shiv Kumar Gautam Changed Clothes After Baba Siddique Murder

After killing Baba Siddique, Shiv Kumar Gautam immediately changed his shirt and disappeared into the crowd so that no one could identify him, Mumbai police crime branch sources.

He then stayed near the crime scene to avoid any confrontation.

The 20-year-old then initially travelled from the crime scene to Kurla in an auto and then boarded a local train to Thane, sources said.

From Thane, he took a train to Pune and dumped his mobile phone during the journey.

Shiv Kumar stayed in Pune for about seven days and then went to Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi by train. He then stayed there for five days and went to the state capital Lucknow.

In Lucknow, he bought a new mobile and contacted his aides. After spending 11 days there, he travelled to his native Bahraich and met his aides, who had arranged a safehouse for him in a nearby village.

Shiv Kumar also said that after killing Baba Siddique, he first planned to go to Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain and then to Vaishno Devi in Jammu before fleeing the country.

How Cops Caught Shiv Kumar Gautam

The police traced about 45 people, including Shiv Kumar Gautam’s family members and his close aides, and tracked their movements after Baba Siddique’s murder.

During the investigation, they zeroed down to four people who were constantly in contact with Shiv Kumar, police sources said.

The police then laid a trap and waited for those four accused to meet Shiv Kumar. They then caught him from the Nanpara area of Bahraich on Sunday.

He was arrested in a joint operation by the police officials of Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai.

Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhileshendra Pratap Singh were also arrested for giving shelter to Shiv Kumar and helping him escape to Nepal.

The police have so far arrested 20 in the case.

Baba Siddique was murdered apparently because of his close relationship with actor Salman Khan. Lawrence Bishnoi’s associates have hinted that the grouse against Mr Khan is about the blackbucks he killed 20 years ago. Blackbucks are sacred to the Bishnoi community.

New Delhi:

Shiv Kumar Gautam, the main accused in the murder case of Maharashtra politician Baba Siddique, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich on Sunday. Sources said he was trying to flee to Nepal.

Shiv Kumar, along with two other accused — Gurnail Singh, a resident of Haryana and Dhramraj Kashyap of Uttar Pradesh — shot dead Mr Siddique, 66, outside his politician son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai on October 12.

While Singh and Kashyao were arrested immediately after the attack, Shiv Kumar had managed to flee.

Shiv Kumar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was caught in a joint operation by the police officials of Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai from the Nanpara area of Bahraich.

During interrogation, he apparently said they were in Mumbai for days conducting recce for the NCP leader and on the night of October 12, “When we got the right time, we killed Baba Siddique”.

Police sources said Shiv Kumar has also admitted that he is linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. The murder, he allegedly said, was carried out on the instructions of Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

Anmol’s name has also cropped up in the murder of Punjabi singer-politician Sidhu Moosewala in 2022, and the firing outside actor Salman Khan’s residence in Mumbai in April. He is on the most-wanted list of the National Investigation Agency, and a Rs 10 lakh reward has been announced for his arrest.

How Cops Caught Shiv Kumar Gautam

After the murder of Baba Siddique, Shiv Kumar had gone to Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh to meet some henchmen of the gang. The Mumbai police had tracked him to Omkareshwar but failed to catch him.

The police then traced about 45 people, including Shiv Kumar’s family members and his close aides, and tracked their movements.

During the investigation, they zeroed down to four people who were constantly in contact with Shiv Kumar, police sources said.

A house next to Shiv Kumar’s residence was apparently made a safe house for him. The police then laid a trap and waited for those four accused to meet Shiv Kumar. They then caught him and his four aides there on Sunday.

Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhileshendra Pratap Singh were arrested for giving shelter to Shiv Kumar and helping him escape to Nepal. The police have so far arrested 20 in the case.

Baba Siddique was murdered apparently because of his close relationship with actor Salman Khan. Lawrence Bishnoi’s associates have hinted that the grouse against Mr Khan is about the blackbucks he killed 20 years ago. Blackbucks are sacred to the Bishnoi community.

Investigators said Baba Siddique’s son and Mumbai MLA Zeeshan Siddique is also a target for the same reason. His photo was reportedly found on a cell phone seized from one of the three men who shot his father.

Mumbai:

Bollywood star Salman Khan has received another threat over a song linking his name to jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The threat was received by Mumbai’s traffic control room at around midnight on Thursday, which marks yet another security concern surrounding the actor, following a series of threats over recent months.

The threat message referenced a song that allegedly names both Salman Khan and Lawrence Bishnoi, stating that the songwriter responsible would face severe repercussions within a month. “The songwriter’s condition will be such that he will no longer be able to write songs. If Salman Khan has the courage, he should save them,” the threat message read.

This latest incident follows a recent escalation in threats linked to Lawrence Bishnoi and his associates, who have previously targeted Mr Khan over alleged grievances stemming from a blackbuck poaching case from 1998.

In a recent arrest, a 32-year-old man named Bhikha Ram, also known as Vikram, was detained by police in Karnataka’s Haveri in connection with prior threats to Mr Khan. Originally from Jalore in Rajasthan, Bhikha Ram was handed over to Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Wednesday.

During his interrogation, Bikha Ram confessed admiration for Lawrence Bishnoi, who he sees as his “idol”. Bikha Ram reportedly planned to use a 5-crore ransom demand to build a temple for the Bishnoi community.

Mumbai Police are also investigating another high-profile case involving a death threat and an extortion demand of Rs 50 lakh directed at actor Shah Rukh Khan. The call, made to Bandra Police, was traced to a phone registered in the name of Raipur-based lawyer Faizan Khan. Faizan, who reported his phone stolen on November 2, has stated that he believes he was targeted as part of a conspiracy.

As per preliminary details, Faizan Khan, who had previously raised an objection against Shah Rukh Khan over a dialogue in the 1994 film Anjaam that referenced deer hunting-a sensitive issue for the Bishnoi community-was questioned by Mumbai Police in Raipur on Thursday. 

“I hail from Rajasthan. The Bishnoi community (which is from Rajasthan) is my friend. It is in their religion to protect deer. So, if a Muslim says something like this about deer, it is condemnable. Therefore, I raised an objection,” he said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

In a two-hour-long interrogation, Faizan claimed his phone had been stolen, adding that the call made from it was an attempt to implicate him.

New Delhi:

Salman Khan has been threatened again by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. The Mumbai Police received a WhatsApp message on Monday night, which said the actor had two options – apologise at a temple or pay Rs 5 crore – if he wanted to stay alive, according to sources.

This is the second death threat Salman Khan has received in a week.

Mumbai Police traffic control room received a threatening message in the name of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The message sent to the traffic control room claims that “Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother is speaking and if Salman Khan wants to stay alive, he should go to our temple and apologise or give Rs 5 crore. If he does not do so, we will kill him, our gang is still active.”

The police is investigating the message.

Last week, on October 30, Mumbai traffic control received a similar threat against Mr Khan, demanding Rs. 2 crore. Azam Mohammad Mustafa, a resident of Bandra East, was arrested soon after.

Earlier, Gufran Khan, a 20-year-old tattoo artist from Noida, was arrested for threatening Salman Khan and Bandra East MLA Zeeshan Siddique.

In the past, Salman Khan has received multiple death threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, apparently due to his involvement in the blackbuck hunting case in Rajasthan during the shooting of the Bollywood movie Hum Saath Saath Hain.

Suspected members of the gang had opened fire outside the actor’s Bandra home in April.

The actor’s security has been heightened following a string of death threats.

Mumbai:

Somy Ali, the ex-girlfriend of Salman Khan made a sensational revelation about a threatening call from the underworld to the superstar in the 90s, when she was in a relationship with him.

Speaking exclusively to IANS, Somy Ali recalled her days with Salman Khan, her tryst with Bollywood, underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, and more.

Asked if during her relationship with Salman in the 1990s, when Dawood Ibrahim’s ties to Bollywood were rampant, did she witness or hear any discussions about the don and his connections with the film industry, Somy replied, “I heard multiple conversations about him, but nobody took Dawood’s name directly, nor did anyone speak about Chota Shakeel. People used to call them the underworld.”

Somy continued, “Divya Bharti was my best friend. We grew very close while shooting for ‘Andolan’ in Bengaluru. I asked Divya what the underworld was. Divya asked, ‘Do you know what mafia is?’ I said, ‘Yes, there’s the Italian mafia in America.’ Divya said, ‘underworld and mafia are similar.'”

Somy also spoke about a threat call to Salman Khan on their landline.

“I lived with Salman at his Galaxy apartment for three years,” she recalled and added, “Once, I received a call on our bedroom’s landline. The person on the other side threatened to abduct me, saying, ‘Salman ko bol dena, Somy Ali ko hum utha kar le jayenge (Tell Salman that we will abduct Somy Ali).'”

Somy continued, “When I told Salman about this, he panicked but handled the situation. However, he never told me how he ‘handled’ it.”

When asked if she ever tried to find out who it was from the underworld who had called the actor, Somy replied, “I asked Salman two to three times about this, but he replied, ‘It’s better that you don’t know about these things.'”

Somy also added that Salman Khan kept her away from such matters, knowing she was naive.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)