Salman Khan murder plot: One Bishnoi gang member arrested in Haryana

The Navi Mumbai police have arrested a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in connection with an alleged plot to kill Bollywood actor Salman Khan, an official said on Thursday.

The accused, Sukha alias Sukhbir Balbir Singh, was apprehended from Panipat in Haryana by a team of Panvel Town police (in Navi Mumbai) on Wednesday, he said.

He had allegedly given a contract to Bishnoi gang members to kill Khan, the official said.

Sukhbir Singh was in touch with his alleged handler Dogar, who is based in Pakistan, he said.

Singh along with the Bishnoi gang members had planned to use weapons from Pakistan, such as AK-47s, M16s and AK92s, to execute the alleged plot to kill Salman Khan, the official said.

He will be produced before a court on Thursday (October 17) after being brought to Navi Mumbai, the police said.

Also Read: Firing at Salman Khan’s house: Planned by Bishnoi’s brother, executed by US-based gangster

The Navi Mumbai police will also interrogate Sukhbir Singh in connection with the case of murder of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, the official said.

Plot to kill actor

On April 24 this year, the Navi Mumbai police registered a case against 18 identified accused and others of the Bishnoi gang for hatching a conspiracy to kill Salman Khan, he said.

The development followed a firing outside the actor's Bandra residence in Mumbai by Bishnoi gang members.

Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, his brother Anmol, Sampat Nehra, Goldie Brar and Rohit Godhara were among the persons named as accused in the FIR, the official said.

The Navi Mumbai police had in this case arrested five Bishnoi gang members - Dhananjay alias Ajay Kashyap alias Nahvi, Gaurav Bhatia, Waspi Khan alias Wasim Chikna, Rizwan Khan alias Javed, and Deepak Hawa Singh alias John, he said.

After the arrests, police in June claimed to have uncovered a plot to target the actor on his way to his farmhouse near Panvel in Navi Mumbai.

Salman told police Bishnoi gang intended to kill him

Khan earlier this year told police that he believed the Lawrence Bishnoi gang carried out the firing at his residence with the intention to kill him and his family members.

The actor’s statement is part of the charge sheet filed by Mumbai police in a court in Mumbai in connection with the incident. Two unidentified persons tried to trespass into his farmhouse near Panvel using fake identities in January 2024, the actor had noted.

In 2022, a threat letter was found on a bench opposite his building, while in March 2023, they received an email threat from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, Khan had told police.

Also Read: One gunman involved in firing outside Salman's house is Bishnoi gang member: Report

According to the police, Lawrence Bishnoi and Sampat Nehra gangs had deployed around 60 to 70 members to monitor Khan's movements as part of efforts to conduct recce at his Bandra residence, Panvel farmhouse, and film shooting locations.

Following specific information about the plot to kill Khan, a case was registered against several persons at Panvel Town police station on April 24.

Link to Baba Siddique’s murder

Shubham Lonkar, who seems to be emerging as one of the key conspirators in the high-profile murder of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique in Mumbai last week, had been questioned by the police after the firing incident outside Salman Khan’s residence in April.

However, he had been let off due to lack of evidence, said reports.

Also Read: Baba Siddique murder: How 'Salman-hater' Lawrence Bishnoi is calling shots from jail

In a Facebook post after Siddique’s murder (which was subsequently deleted and is being probed by the police for its authenticity), Shubham Lonkar allegedly claimed that Siddique was killed due to his links with mafia don Dawood Ibrahim, who he said was close to Salman Khan.

He also wrote that they did not have any enmity with anyone but “whoever helps Salman Khan and the Dawood gang, keep your accounts in order.

Why Bishnoi gang is after Salman

The Bishnoi gang wants to kill Salman for his alleged involvement in the killing of blackbucks in Jodhpur in 1998 during the shooting of Hum Saath Saath Hain.

The Bishnoi community is upset with Salman because it considers blackbucks as sacred.

On April 16, 2024, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met Salman Khan and his father Salim Khan at their home a few days after a couple of gunmen fired shots outside the actor’s home in Bandra, Mumbai.

Also Read: ‘We will finish Lawrence Bishnoi’: Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde after meeting Salman Khan

Addressing journalists, Shinde had said, “The underworld has no place in Mumbai. We will finish this (Lawrence) Bishnoi so that no one dares to do such a thing.”

(With agency inputs)