Target Salman Khan: How Lawrence Bishnoi has tried to terrorise the actor

When Salman Khan, Bollywood’s enfant terrible, found himself in the dock for the alleged shooting of a blackbuck while filming in Rajasthan in 1998, little did he know that legal troubles would be the least of his worries. The dead blackbuck would become the catalyst for dreaded gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s years-long vendetta against the actor.
Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang, already infamous for the killings of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala and Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, took credit for the murder of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique on Sunday. The veteran politician was known for his annual iftar parties, where Salman Khan was a regular fixture due to their friendship.
Hours later, the notorious gang led by jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi owned up to Siddique’s assassination in a social media post, and, in the same breath, sounded a warning shot to Salman Khan.
The killing marks the biggest hit orchestrated by Bishnoi, who has waged a relentless campaign of intimidation, harassment, and threats against Khan.
Lawrence Bishnoi, a notorious gangster with deep connections to organised crime in India and abroad, first gained public attention due to his vow of revenge against Salman Khan.
A member of the Bishnoi community—a sect that considers the blackbuck a sacred animal—Lawrence Bishnoi was incensed when the actor was convicted in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case. The actor was accused of hunting and killing two blackbucks while filming Hum Saath Saath Hain in Rajasthan.
Although Khan was eventually granted bail in the case, Bishnoi, who was barely five years old at the time of the incident, made it his mission to target the Bollywood star, seeking to establish a name for himself.
Bishnoi’s threats to Salman Khan began in 2018, when the gangster was arrested and brought to court. While in police custody, Bishnoi declared, “Salman Khan will be killed here in Jodhpur… Then, he will come to know about our real identity.” At the time, the threats seemed like bravado from a criminal seeking attention.
However, the threats became much more real in 2022, when Khan’s father, Salim Khan, discovered a threatening letter while on his morning walk near the star’s Mumbai home. The note, left on a bench where Salim Khan regularly rested, warned that both the father and son would be killed. The letter read, “Tumhara Moose Wala kar denge (you will end up like Moose Wala),” alluding to the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala, who had been shot dead earlier that year by members of the Bishnoi gang.
In March 2023, an email threatening Khan and his family was received by one of his team members, leading to a case being registered at the Bandra police station.
On April 14, 2024, the feud took a violent turn. Shots were fired outside Khan’s home in Bandra, Mumbai. Two individuals on a motorcycle fired several rounds at the balcony of Khan’s first-floor apartment before fleeing. Khan, who was awakened by the sound he initially mistook for firecrackers, later stated that he believed the attack was orchestrated by the Bishnoi gang to kill him and his family.
Although no one was hurt, the shooting sent a clear message: Bishnoi and his henchmen were willing to escalate from threats to action.
The Bishnoi gang also had a plan in place to waylay Khan’s car and gun him down near his sprawling farmhouse in Panvel, on the outskirts of Mumbai. Mumbai Police thwarted the plan and arrested four shooters of the Bishnoi gang in May and recovered AK-47 rifles from them.
The gang’s actions have not been limited to India; warning shots were fired outside the Canada home of Punjabi singer AP Dhillon in September this year, soon after he filmed a music video with Salman Khan.
Later that same month, the actor’s father, Salim Khan, received a fresh threat. According to sources, when Salim Khan was out for a morning walk near his Bandra home, a man and a burqa-clad woman, on a scooter, approached him and issued a threat citing jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s name.
“Should I call Lawrence Bishnoi?” the burqa-clad woman said to Salim Khan when he was sitting on a bench.
The murder of Baba Siddique marks the most severe escalation in Bishnoi’s campaign against Salman Khan and those close to him.
The incident, which occurred on Saturday night in Mumbai, saw Siddique fatally shot by assailants outside his office in Bandra. The social media post claiming responsibility for Siddique’s murder also warned that anyone who helped Khan would face similar consequences.
Security measures around Khan’s residence and other potential targets have been beefed up in the wake of the killing. The actor currently enjoys Y+ security.
With the assassination of Baba Siddique, it is evident that the stakes have been raised. How long this feud lasts is anyone’s guess, but for now, Salman Khan remains firmly in Lawrence Bishnoi’s crosshairs.