New Delhi: In what could be called his first public comments following the murder of his close friend and NCP leader Baba Siddique, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan said he has to handle quarrels between "Bigg Boss 18" contestants at a time when he is "going through" a certain phase in his life.

 

Siddique, the former Maharashtra minister known for his starry iftar parties and Bollywood connections, was gunned down on October 12 outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's Mumbai office.

According to police, Siddique may have been targeted by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi because of his proximity to Khan.

On Saturday's Weekend ka Vaar episode of "Bigg Boss 18", on which the actor serves as the host, Khan said he wanted to give the popular reality series a miss.

"Yaar, qasam khuda ki what all I am going through in my life and I have to come and handle this (arguments between housemates)... I feel that I shouldn't have come here today. But you have to do what you have to do," Khan can be seen saying as per several videos circulating on social media.

"Mere par bhi bahut saare laanchan lagaye gaye hain (I have been accused of many things). I know what my parents go through," he added in another clip.

It could not be immediately confirmed whether this episode was filmed before or after Siddique's killing.

Though Khan didn't share a post condoling Siddique's passing on social media, he visited the slain politician's Bandra residence last Sunday hours before his burial service.

The Mumbai traffic police received a threat message demanding Rs 5 crore from the Bollywood actor, following which the Crime Branch began a probe an official said on Friday.

A case was registered at Worli police under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for threat and extortion after the city’s traffic control room received the message on its WhatsApp helpline on Thursday afternoon, he said.

Khan had earlier received death threats from the Bishnoi gang whose members had also opened fire outside the actor’s Bandra home in April.

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Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.

The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.

Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.

"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.

Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.

“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.

Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.

"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.

The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.

Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.

"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.

The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.

Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.