Gangster gave Rs 25 lakh contract to get Salman killed: Police

Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi gave out a Rs 25 lakh contract to murder Bollywood actor Salman Khan, the Maharashtra Police has said, but the plot fizzled out.

Several arrests were made after two men allegedly linked to the jailed gangster fired shots outside the actor’s residence in Bandra in Mumbai.

Salman Khan was inside the house and did not suffer any injury.

Plot takes shape

According to fresh charges filed against the accused, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang hatched the plan to kill Salman between August 2023 and April 2024.

The motive for murdering the Bollywood heartthrob was not clear.

Pakistan, Turkey

The police found out that the gang tried to acquire specialised and advanced guns from Pakistan including AK-47s, AK-92s and M16 rifles as well as the Turkish-made Zigana pistol.

A Zigana pistol was used in the murder of popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala in 2022. That killing too was blamed on the Bishnoi gang.

Tracking Salman

According to the chargesheet, 60 to 70 individuals were engaged in keeping a track of Salman’s movements. It was then the possible spots were chosen where he could be gunned down.

The original idea was to target Salman at a movie shoot or while he was leaving his Panvel farmhouse. Two other possible spots were his Mumbai residence and Goregaon Film City.

Other gangsters

Many of the spotters were minors who reported to gangsters Goldy Brar and Lawrence Bishnoi's brother Anmol Bishnoi. Both men are said to be based in Canada.

An audio recovered by Mumbai Police from one of the arrested suspects in the firing incident outside Salman’s residence matched with the voice of Anmol Bishnoi.

Eventually, Anmol told the attackers to target the actor’s residence. The weapons were handed over to the men on March 15 this year.