A week after an anonymous message to the Bombay traffic police’s WhatsApp helpline demanded a ransom of Rs. 5 crore from actor Salman Khan, the Worli (Bombay) police on October 23 arrested a 24-year-old man from Jamshedpur for allegedly sending the threat. The October 17 message, which was traced to Jamshedpur vegetable vendor Hussain Shaikh, had invoked jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and had said that if Salman did not agree to pay up, he would meet the same fate as that of NCP politician Baba Siddique. The politician was shot dead on October 12 at Bandra East in Bombay. The Bishnoi gang has claimed responsibility for the murder.
Two days after the ransom demand, Shaikh had sent another message to the helpline, apologising for the threat message.
A Jamshedpur court granted Hussain Shaikh’s transit remand. He has been brought to Bombay and will be produced in court for his police custody.
The Lawrence Bishnoi gang has been linked to several threats to Salman and is suspected of firing at the actor’s house on April 14 this year. In March last year, Salman Khan’s personal assistant had received a warning mail on behalf of Bishnoi’s aide, Goldy Brar, which highlighted the gangster’s interview that was aired from jail and said that his life’s goal was to kill the star. In June 2022, Salman’s writer-father, Salim Khan, had come across a threat letter which was kept on a bench at Bandra Bandstand where the veteran took his daily walks.