Salman Khan gets new threat, Rs 5 cr demand; suspect tracked down in Karnataka
Mumbai, Nov 5: Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has received a fresh threat along with a demand of Rs 5 crore from a person claiming to be the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, police officials said on Tuesday.
A suspect was tracked down at Hubballi in Karnataka and a police team has reached there though no arrest has been made yet, they said.
The threat message, which also asked Khan to apologise apparently over the 1998 blackbuck poaching incident, was received on the WhatsApp helpline of the Mumbai traffic police control room located in Worli late Monday night, an official said.
The message sender claimed he is the brother of Lawrence Bishnoi, he said.
"If Salman Khan wants to stay alive, he should go to our (Bishnoi community) temple and apologise or pay Rs 5 crore. If he does not do so, we will kill him; our gang is still active," the message said.
A case was registered at Worli Police Station, and Khan's security was also beefed up, the official said.
Worli Police tracked the sender of the message to Hubballi. A team was sent to the southern state which zeroed in on a 35-year-old man, a welder by profession, he said.
The man is suspected to have sent the threat message, and the police team was questioning him though he has not been detained or arrested yet, the official added.
Salman Khan has received similar threats earlier. On October 29, a man sent a threat message to the same traffic police helpline, threatening to kill Khan and city NCP leader Zeeshan Siddique if they failed to pay Rs 2 crore.
The sender warned that the two will meet the same fate as former state minister Baba Siddique, Zeeshan's father. Baba Siddique was shot dead by three gunmen in Bandra area of Mumbai on October 12.
On October 30, a resident of Bandra (West), an upscale area where Khan also lives, was arrested in connection with the threat.
Earlier in October, the helpline desk had received a threat message demanding Rs 5 crore from the actor. The police subsequently arrested a man from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand.
City police also arrested a man from Noida in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly issuing a death threat to Khan and Zeeshan Siddique.
Notably, Khan had earlier received death threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. While Bishnoi himself is lodged in Ahmedabad's Sabarmati jail in cases including attempted murder and extortion, suspected members of his gang opened fire outside the actor's Bandra home in April.
Weeks after that, Navi Mumbai Police claimed to have uncovered a plot by the Bishnoi gang to kill Khan while on his way to his farmhouse at Panvel near Mumbai.
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Binny Bansal steps down from board of PhonePe
New Delhi, Nov 22: Flipkart's co-founder Binny Bansal has stepped down from the board of PhonePe, the fintech company said on Friday.
PhonePe also announced the appointment of Manish Sabharwal as an Independent Director and Chair of its Audit Committee.
In this role, Sabharwal will be instrumental in upholding the integrity and effectiveness of PhonePe's financial reporting, internal controls, and risk management practices, he company said in a release.
"PhonePe also announced that Flipkart's co-founder, Binny Bansal has stepped down from its Board of Directors. Binny acquired PhonePe in 2016 and has been on its Board since then," the release said.
Commenting on the board rejig, Sameer Nigam, CEO and Founder of PhonePe said, "I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Binny Bansal for being one of PhonePe's earliest and staunchest supporters. His active engagement, strategic guidance, and personal mentorship have profoundly enriched our discussions. Binny will be missed!"
Nigam further said that Sabharwal's depth of understanding of India's macro economy, coupled with his leadership in shaping India's policies for education, employment, and employability will be invaluable as PhonePe continues to work ahead towards shared vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Sabharwal is Vice-Chairman of Teamlease Services, India's largest staffing and human capital firm.
Bansal played an instrumental role in Flipkart's acquisition of PhonePe way back in 2016 and had been on its board since then (the payments firm separated from Flipkart in 2022).
