Salman gets another threat, Rs 5 cr demand; sender claims to be Lawrence Bishnoi's brother
Mumbai (PTI): Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has received a fresh threat along with a demand of Rs 5 crore from a person claiming to brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, officials said on Tuesday.
The threat message, which also asked Khan to apologise apparently over an alleged blackbuck poaching incident, was received at the Mumbai traffic police control room located in Worli area late Monday night, an official said.
The message sender claimed he is brother of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, the police official 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.
Taking serious cognisance of the message, an on-duty security officer informed about it to the higher-ups and Worli police, the official said.
Police are probing the origin of the threat message and have beefed up security measures for Salman Khan, sources said.
The police are also checking if the message is linked to Lawrence Bishnoi, who is lodged at the Sabarmati jail in Gujarat on various charges, including attempted murder and extortion, they added.
Khan has earlier also received threats along with the demand for money.
On October 29, a man sent a threat message on the traffic police's WhatsApp helpline number, threatening to kill Khan and Maharashtra NCP leader Zeeshan Siddique if they failed to pay up Rs 2 crore.
The person in the message warned the two will meet the same fate as former state minister Baba Siddique, father of Zeeshan Siddique, and his warning should not be treated as a joke, he said.
Baba Siddique was shot dead by three gunmen in the Bandra area on October 12.
The police on October 30 arrested a man, resident of Bandra (West), an upscale area where Khan also resides, in that connection and recovered the mobile phone and the SIM card used in the crime, an official earlier said.
Earlier last month, the Mumbai traffic police's WhatsApp helpline desk had received a threat message demanding Rs 5 crore from the actor. The police subsequently arrested a man from Jamshedpur in Jharkhand in connection with the threat message.
The Mumbai police last month also arrested a man from Noida in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly issuing a death threat to Khan and Zeeshan Siddique.
Notably, Khan had earlier also received death threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
Suspected members of the dreaded gang opened fire outside the actor's Bandra home in April this year.
A few months back, the Navi Mumbai police uncovered a plot by the Bishnoi gang to kill Khan after which his security was stepped up.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
