In the early hours of Sunday, two individuals on a motorcycle discharged gunshots outside the Bandra home of actor Salman Khan. Although the actor emerged unharmed, the incident adds to a string of threats he has encountered in recent years.
Two unidentified bike-borne individuals, wearing helmets, fired five shots outside Salman Khan’s residence in Bandra around 5 a.m. on Sunday. The Mumbai police have registered an FIR and initiated an investigation.
In March 2023, Salman Khan’s manager received a threatening email, leading to an FIR against Lawrence Bishnoi, a jailed gangster, Goldy Brar – a gangster based in Canada and close to Bishnoi – and Mohit Garg. The email referred to an interview given by Bishnoi from Tihar jail where he had threatened the actor.
The email, from Mohit Garg’s ID, mentioned that Brar wanted to speak with the actor and referred to Bishnoi’s interview where the jailed gangster had issued the threat. It stated that if the actor wished to resolve the matter, he should speak with Brar “face to face.” The email also warned that while information had been passed this time, there would be consequences next time.
Prior to this, in June 2022, a threat letter was left at a spot on Bandra Bandstand frequented by Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan. The letter threatened that the actor would meet the fate of singer Sidhu Moosewala, who was allegedly killed by the Bishnoi gang in May 2022. An FIR was also filed regarding this threat letter.
Additionally, during interrogation by the Punjab Police, a member of the Bishnoi gang mentioned that two men had conducted a reconnaissance of Salman Khan’s route from Mumbai to his Panvel farmhouse. The member stated that the men had rented a room for a month for this purpose. However, the Mumbai police could not verify this information.
Lawrence Bishnoi has previously threatened and allegedly attempted to attack Salman Khan due to his involvement in the blackbuck killing case of 1998 while filming the movie “Hum Saath-Saath Hain” in Rajasthan. Blackbucks are revered by the Bishnoi community, leading Lawrence Bishnoi to claim he was upset with the actor over this incident.
However, law enforcement agencies suggest that like other gangs, Bishnoi targets high-profile individuals to remain in the spotlight and intimidate victims into paying protection money.
Lawrence Bishnoi, aged 31, is a gangster based in Punjab with several cases of murder and extortion against him. He gained more notoriety after the murder of Sidhu Moosewala, with Goldy Brar claiming responsibility for the murder and stating that he had planned it with Bishnoi, who was in Tihar jail at the time.
Following the threats against Salman Khan, the Mumbai Police issued him a firearm license for self-protection in August 2022. In November 2022, the Maharashtra government upgraded his security level from X to Y plus category.
X category security typically includes one gunman, while Y category includes one gunman for mobile security and one (plus four on rotation) for static security. Y+ category includes two policemen (plus four on rotation) for mobile security and one (plus four on rotation) for residence security.