MUMBAI: A year after shots were fired outside Salman Khan’s Bandra residence, Worli traffic police’s helpline on Sunday received a WhatsApp message threatening to enter the actor’s house and kill him and blow up his car with a bomb.
Within 24 hours of filing the FIR, Worli police identified the sender as Mayank Pandya (25) from Vadodara in Gujarat and detained him.
“Using technical intelligence, we tracked down Pandya at his Vadodara residence. As he is undergoing treatment for a mental illness, we have issued him a notice and asked him to join the investigation,” said a police officer.
The threat message, written in Hindi, was sent between 6.27am and 6.29am on Sunday, said police. During questioning, Pandya said he recently joined a social media group where learnt about the Lawrence Bishnoi gang targeting Salman, the officer added.
A Worli police team, led by senior inspector Ravindra Katkar, is probing the case.
In the last three years, Salman and his family members, including his father Salim Khan, have received multiple threats from the Bishnoi gang due to the actor’s alleged involvement in the 1998 blackbuck killing case during the shooting of ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ in Rajasthan. Blackbucks are considered sacred by the Bishnoi community.
The Bishnoi syndicate allegedly wanted to assassinate Salman before killing Punjabi pop singer Sidhu Moose Wala. Just days after Moose Wala’s death in 2022, Salim’s security team found a threat letter at Bandra Bandstand promenade. Salman’s security was then elevated to Y-plus category.
In the wee hours of April 14, 2024, two bike-borne men, allegedly belonging to the Bishnoi gang, fired multiple rounds outside the actor’s residence, Galaxy Apartments. Seven men were arrested, but one of them, Anuj Thapan, allegedly hanged himself in police lock-up. In May 2024, Navi Mumbai police arrested five men who were allegedly planning an ambush near Salman’s Panvel farmhouse using sophisticated weapons. In Oct and Nov 2024, four separate messages threatening to kill Salman were received on Worli traffic police’s helpline number.
Mumbai: A year after shots were fired outside Salman Khan’s Bandra residence, Worli traffic police’s helpline on Sunday received a WhatsApp message threatening to enter the actor’s house and kill him and blow up his car with a bomb. Within 24 hours of filing the FIR, Worli police identified the sender as Mayank Pandya (25) from Vadodara in Gujarat and detained him.
“Using technical intelligence, we tracked down Pandya at his Vadodara residence. As he is undergoing treatment for a mental illness, we have issued him a notice and asked him to join the investigation,” said a police officer.
The threat message, written in Hindi, was sent between 6.27am and 6.29am on Sunday, said police. During questioning, Pandya said he recently joined a social media group where learnt about the Lawrence Bishnoi gang targeting Salman, the officer added.
A Worli police team, led by senior inspector Ravindra Katkar, is probing the case.
In the last three years, Salman and his family members, including his father Salim Khan, have received multiple threats from the Bishnoi gang due to the actor’s alleged involvement in the 1998 blackbuck killing case during the shooting of ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ in Rajasthan. Blackbucks are considered sacred by the Bishnoi community.
The Bishnoi syndicate allegedly wanted to assassinate Salman before killing Punjabi pop singer Sidhu Moose Wala. Just days after Moose Wala’s death in 2022, Salim’s security team found a threat letter at Bandra Bandstand promenade. Salman’s security was then elevated to Y-plus category.
In the wee hours of April 14, 2024, two bike-borne men, allegedly belonging to the Bishnoi gang, fired multiple rounds outside the actor’s residence, Galaxy Apartments. Seven men were arrested, but one of them, Anuj Thapan, allegedly hanged himself in police lock-up. In May 2024, Navi Mumbai police arrested five men who were allegedly planning an ambush near Salman’s Panvel farmhouse using sophisticated weapons. In Oct and Nov 2024, four separate messages threatening to kill Salman were received on Worli traffic police’s helpline number.