3 minutes of readingBombayFebruary 2, 2026 01:23 am
THE MODUS operandi of the Bishnoi gang remains the same when it comes to attacks in the city: carry out attacks, claim responsibility in a Facebook post, take a screenshot and share on social media so that the IP address cannot be traced. However, this time, the publication claiming responsibility makes no effort to disguise it with “noble aims” but rather it seems to be a clear indication that the gang is trying to intimidate Bollywood.
Actor Salman Khan has been on the gang’s radar for years for allegedly killing a black antelope, considered sacred by the Bishnoi community, during the shooting of a film in 1999. Later, when a shooting occurred outside the actor’s residence in April 2024, Anmol Bishnoi stated in a post “you consider Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel divine. However, we have two dogs named after these two.” There was no demand for money.
Similarly, when the gang got NCP leader Baba Siddique murdered outside his Bandra residence in October 2024, Shubham Lonkar posted a message stating how Siddique had been shot dead because he was linked to Dawood and Salman Khan. It was also said to be revenge for the death of Anuj Thapan, an accused arrested in the Salman Khan case, who allegedly committed suicide while in police custody. According to the police, money was not demanded in this case either.
In the social media post following the shooting outside Rohit Shetty’s house, the account did not provide any motive. All it said was that Shetty should not “interfere with his work”. He later said, “if in the future you didn’t understand or follow what they had to say, you will be shot.”
In a first possible indication that the gang has been making calls to Bollywood personalities, the message warned Bollywood to “get better while there is still time” and that “whoever they called must come to the phone and talk or they will have nowhere to hide.”
In the minutes presented by the Bombay In the cases of Salman Khan and Baba Siddique, the police cited the reason for these attacks as the gang trying to create fear in the city, so they could then carry out extortion.
Mumbai Police has so far maintained that it has not received any information about the Bishnoi gang making extortion calls to the city. An officer said, “We have not received any complaint from Shetty or any Bollywood actor that they have received extortion calls.”
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The specter of extortion calls has haunted the city when underworld gangs from Dawood to Chhota Rajan made extortion calls in the past. The last two decades have been a welcome respite, as most of these gangsters have been neutralized.
