Bollywood stars Salman and Shah Rukh Khan receive death threats – DW – 11/08/2024

Bollywood star Salman Khan received death threats on Thursday, authorities said. The caller is unknown, but the threat is believed to have come from a criminal gang led by Lawrence Bishnoi, police in the western Indian city of Mumbai, where the actor lives, said.

The caller demanded 50 million Indian rupees (about 550,000 euros, $592,600) from the 58-year-old actor and also threatened the lyricist who wrote the song mentioning Salman and Bishnoi. Authorities said the investigation is ongoing.

The actor also received a threat on Tuesday. Police have arrested the accused, identified as Bhikhu Ram, a daily wage laborer from Rajasthan.

“The accused was watching a regional news channel when he suddenly called the Mumbai Police control room and issued death threats against Salman Khan. He is a daily wage laborer and claims to be a fan of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi,” police told news agency PTI. , adding that they are continuing to investigate.

Bishnoi, a wanted gangster in India, has been behind bars since 2015. However, investigators believe he runs a multi-member gang across India that engages in extortion, drug and arms smuggling and murder.

In 2018, Bishnoi threatened Salman for allegedly poaching two sable antelopes, which are a sacred species for the Bishnoi community to which Lawrence Bishnoi belongs.

He was believed to be the mastermind behind the murder of Mumbai politician Baba Siddique last month, who was close to Salman.

Bishnoi is also believed to be behind the murder of popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala in 2022.

Shah Rukh Khan also receives threats

Another Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan also received threats on Tuesday demanding a ransom of INR 5 million. The caller introduced himself as a “Hindustani” or “Indian” and said that he would kill Shah Rukh if ​​the ransom was not paid.

Hindustan Times reported that the caller did not have the actor’s number and instead called the local Bandra police station near the actor’s home.

These two khans are not related to each other.

Police tracked the number of a lawyer who claimed his phone had previously been stolen.

Shah Rukh’s security was beefed up in 2023 following threats regarding his recent films Pataan and Jawan.