On 5th June, Salman Khan’s father Salim Khan was out for his morning jog in Mumbai. Between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., he came to a bench that he regularly rests on and discovered a note.
The note was addressed to both father and son, and stated that they would suffer the some fate as rapper Sidhu Moose Wala. Last month, Moose Wala was shot dead in his car. Police blamed the death on gang rivalry and took gangster Lawrence Bishnoi into custody as a suspect. Canada-based rapper Goldy Brar also publicly claimed responsibility for the killing on his social media.
The letter addressed to the Khans is signed off by “LB” and “GB”, which police believe to be Brar and Bishnoi’s initials. They are questioning Bishnoi to determine the validity of this hypothesis. Reportedly, Bishnoi has denied any allegations of his involvement.
In 2018, Bishnoi publicly stated his intention of killing Khan. He was in police custody at the time and was talking to media outside the courts in Jodhpur when he vowed that he would kill Khan.
According to India Today, Bishnoi has already once attempted to assassinate Salman. The news media outlet reported that Bishnoi and his associates plotted to kill Salman in 2011 while he was shooting for his film Ready. They planned to shoot the actor during one of his regular cycling excursions. Contract killer Naresh Shetty was tasked with the mission. However, after doing a recce of Salman’s house, Shetty decided that his pistol was not sufficient for the task.
According to NDTV, Bishnoi’s associate Sampat Naresh did a similar recce of the actor’s house in 2017 but did not go through with his plans. In 2020, the Delhi police also arrested three of the Bishnoi gang’s sharpshooters for allegedly plotting to kill Salman.
Bishnoi’s grudge against Salman is said to be related to him allegedly poaching blackbucks in 1998 while shooting Hum Saath Saath Hain. The Bishnoi community sees blackbucks as being sacred animals and had filed a petition against the actor over 20 years ago.
Salman and his family are currently being provided protection by the Mumbai police. Authorities are using CCTV to identify who left the death threat for Salman’s father to find. Meanwhile Salman has continued to work and travel as the situation develops.
