A threatening message was received on a WhatsApp number of Mumbai Traffic Police, in which ₹5 crore has been demanded from Bollywood actor Salman Khan, news agency ANI reported citing the Mumbai Police.
The sender reportedly threatened that if the money is not given, “Salman Khan’s condition will be worse than Baba Siddique“.
“Don’t take it lightly, if Salman Khan wants to stay alive and wants to end the enmity with Lawrence Bishnoi, then he will have to pay ₹5 crore. If the money is not given, Salman Khan’s condition will be worse than Baba Siddique,” the sender claimed, reported ANI.
Investigation has been started into the matter, said the Mumbai Police.
Baba Siddique (66), a Nationalist Congress Party leader and a former Maharashtra minister, was shot dead on October 12 night outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai’s upscale Bandra.
The police have so far arrested four persons, including Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), both alleged shooters; Harishkumar Balakram Nisad (23), and “co-conspirator” and Shubham Lonkar’s brother Pravin Lonkar, who hails from Pune.
The threat message for Salman Khan comes a day after the Navi Mumbai Police said it has arrested a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in connection with an alleged plot to kill Salman Khan.
The accused, Sukha alias Sukhbir Balbir Singh, was apprehended from Panipat in Haryana by a team of Panvel Town police (in Navi Mumbai) on Wednesday, an official told PTI.
He had allegedly given a contract to Bishnoi gang members to kill Khan, the official said.
Sukhbir Singh was in touch with his alleged handler Dogar, who is based in Pakistan, he said.
Singh along with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang members had planned to use weapons from Pakistan, such as AK-47s, M16s and AK92s, to execute the alleged plot to kill Salman Khan, the official said.
He will be produced before a court after being brought to Navi Mumbai, the police said.
The Navi Mumbai police will also interrogate Sukhbir Singh in connection with the case of murder of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, the official said.
On April 24 this year, the Navi Mumbai police registered a case against 18 identified accused and others of the Bishnoi gang for hatching a conspiracy to kill Salman Khan, he said.
The development followed a firing outside the actor’s Bandra residence in Mumbai by Bishnoi gang members.
Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, his brother Anmol, Sampat Nehra, Goldie Brar and Rohit Godhara were among the persons named as accused in the FIR, the official said.
The Navi Mumbai police had in this case arrested five Bishnoi gang members – Dhananjay alias Ajay Kashyap alias Nahvi, Gaurav Bhatia, Waspi Khan alias Wasim Chikna, Rizwan Khan alias Javed, and Deepak Hawa Singh alias John, he said.
After the arrests, police in June claimed to have uncovered a plot to target the actor on his way to his farmhouse near Panvel in Navi Mumbai.
During the investigation, it also came to light that Lawrence Bishnoi and Sampat Nehra gangs had deployed around 60 to 70 members to monitor Khan’s movements as part of efforts to conduct recce at his Bandra residence, Panvel farmhouse and film shooting locations.
The accused persons were trying to use minors as sharp-shooters, using weapons from Pakistan, the official said.
Khan had told police that he believed the Lawrence Bishnoi gang carried out the firing at his residence with the intention to kill him and his family members.