Mumbai: A fresh audio message purportedly attributed to Anil Pandit, an alleged associate of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, has surfaced following the firing incident involving Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff in Mumbai’s Juhu area. In the recording, the speaker reportedly demands an apology from actor Salman Khan to jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and the Bishnoi community, while threatening Khan and people close to him if he refuses.
According to The Times of India and The Indian Express, the speaker also claims that the gang has members ready in Mumbai and warns of further attacks. In the recording, the speaker reportedly warns, “If you kill 2, we have 200 gang members ready in Mumbai,” as reported by The Times of India.
The recording makes allegations about the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and alleged links between Bollywood personalities and fugitive underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim. Police are examining the audio’s authenticity and investigating the alleged gang connection to the firing.
The firing took place in Juhu on the evening of October 18, when motorcycle-borne assailants allegedly opened fire at a vehicle carrying Shroff. The actor escaped without gunshot injuries, while his driver and a bystander were injured. Mumbai Police subsequently formed multiple teams to investigate the incident and conducted a preliminary forensic examination of the scene.
The Indian Express reported that a social media post claiming responsibility in the name of Anil Pandit surfaced soon after the firing, but the account was subsequently deleted. A purported audio message claiming responsibility also circulated. Police have examined the apparent pattern of online responsibility claims associated with the Bishnoi gang, but the gang’s involvement in this particular attack has not been conclusively established by the available reporting.
According to The Indian Express and Hindustan Times, three suspects, including a minor, were detained in Kota, Rajasthan, on October 19 in connection with the firing. Officials were examining their alleged roles and possible links with Anil Pandit. Preliminary police statements indicated that one of the suspects had been in contact with Pandit.
The reported threat against Salman Khan follows a long-running dispute involving Lawrence Bishnoi and the actor. The Bishnoi gang has repeatedly referred to the blackbuck poaching case dating back to 1998, when Khan was accused in connection with the alleged killing of blackbucks during a film shoot in Rajasthan. The blackbuck is considered sacred by the Bishnoi community.
Hindustan Times has traced the gang’s threats against Khan over several years, including warnings following the 2022 killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala and the firing outside Khan’s Bandra residence in April 2024. In the latest purported recording, the speaker reportedly insists that Khan apologise to Bishnoi and warns that people around the actor could also be targeted.
The emergence of the new audio has renewed concerns about threats against members of the film industry. However, a threat or a claim of responsibility made in a recording does not, by itself, establish who ordered or carried out a crime.
The audio also reportedly questions the authorities’ response to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June 2020. The speaker alleges that people in the film industry were responsible for Rajput’s death and contrasts the investigation into that case with the police response to the recent firing.
The immediate focus for investigators is to establish the circumstances of the firing, identify the roles of the suspects, verify the source and authenticity of the audio, and determine whether the attack was directed by an organised criminal network. The alleged connection to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang remains a key line of inquiry, rather than a conclusion that can be drawn solely from the recording.
Sources: The Times of India, “If you kill 2, we have 200 gang members ready in Mumbai”; Hindustan Times, reporting on the Tiger Shroff firing and the Bishnoi gang’s threats against Bollywood figures; and The Indian Express, “200 brothers ready in Mumbai”: Gangster Anil Pandit after Tiger Shroff firing.
