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Sources said other celebrities have also been targeted because of their ‘closeness’ with the actor.
New Delhi:
The Lawrence Bishnoi gang has not only claimed responsibility for the murder of Baba Siddique but also threatened that anyone who helps actor Salman Khan, near whose house it has already fired warning shots, will be in its crosshairs.
Soon after Mr Siddique, a three-time MLA and former Maharashtra minister, was killed near the office of his son, MLA Zeeshan Siddique, in Bandra East on Saturday night, speculation began swirling of a Bishnoi gang link to the daring crime. This was confirmed on Sunday after a post on Facebook by one Shubuu Lonkar, believed to be Bishnoi gang associate Shubham Rameshwar Lonkar, claiming responsibility.
While Lonkar is in jail, police said the post was made by his brother Pravin Lonkar, who was arrested on Sunday evening.
In the post, Lonkar claimed that Siddique had been killed because he was linked to India’s most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, was close to Salman Khan and because of the death of Anuj Thapan, one of the arrested suspects in the shooting outside Mr Khan’s house, in police custody.
Thapan was found dead on May 1 inside the Mumbai Crime Branch lock-up. The police had said he died by suicide but his family had claimed he was tortured in custody.
“We do not have any enmity with anyone but whoever helps Salman Khan and the Dawood gang, keep your accounts in order (‘hisab-kitaab kar lena’),” Lonkar wrote in Hindi in the Facebook post. Police said they are verifying the authenticity of the post.
Siddique was known for hosting lavish parties and a five-year-long cold war between Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan was resolved at his ‘iftar’ party in 2013.
Police sources said at least two celebrities have been attacked by the Bishnoi gang for their perceived closeness to Salman Khan since last year. Mr Khan visited the hospital where Siddique was admitted after he was shot on Saturday and also went to his residence on Sunday.
In November 2023, shots were fired at the house of Punjabi singer Gippy Grewal in Canada’s Vancouver and the Bishnoi gang had said it had done so because Mr Grewal had praised Mr Khan and treated him “like a brother”.
Mr Grewal had said he had only met the actor twice.
In September this year, shots were fired near the house of another Punjabi singer, AP Dhillon, in Vancouver. Rohit Godara, a notorious member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, had said the shooting was the handiwork of the outfit. The firing occurred after Mr Dhillon released a video of his song ‘Old Money’, which featured Salman Khan.
Why Salman Khan?
The Bishnoi gang, which became a household name after claiming responsibility for murdering musician Sidhu Moose Wala in 2022, has said it wants to kill Salman Khan because of his alleged involvement in shooting blackbucks at Bawad in Mathania near Jodhpur in September 1998, during the filming of ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’.
The alleged act had upset the Bishnoi community, which considers the blackbuck sacred.
Lawrence Bishnoi had said during a court appearance in 2018: “We will kill Salman Khan in Jodhpur. Everyone will know once we take action. I have not done anything as of now, they are accusing me of crimes for no reason.”
Heightened Security
Meanwhile, security has been tightened around Salman Khan’s house – Galaxy Apartments in Bandra – outside which a firing had taken place on April 14. Mr Khan had later told the police that he believed that the shooting was done at the behest of the Bishnoi gang with the intention of killing him and his family.
A tight security cordon has also been put in place in South Mumbai’s Malabar Hill, where the residences of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar are located. Siddique, who had been part of the Congress for 48 years, had switched to Mr Pawar’s party earlier this year.
Officials said patrolling has been increased in the Malabar Hill area and some points have also been blocked.
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