Lawrence Bishnoi’s cousin warns Salman Khan over apology demand

Dubai: Ramesh Bishnoi, cousin of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, has warned Bollywood superstar Salman Khan to apologise to the Bishnoi community, saying there could be “dangerous consequences” if he refuses.

Speaking to news agency IANS on Monday following the shooting incident involving actor Tiger Shroff in Mumbai, Ramesh said the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was warning people associated with Salman against working with the actor.

“As you heard in the audio, I heard the same thing: That we have stopped him and want to warn him again that anyone who works with Salman Khan could face consequences,” he said.

Ramesh added that he was relaying the gang’s sentiments rather than making the statements in his personal capacity.

He also urged Salman Khan’s family to abandon what he described as their stubbornness, claiming that the issue had caused widespread anger within the Bishnoi community.

“Lawrence has no personal dispute with Salman Khan, nor is it a personal dispute with the community. The issue is that he has hurt our religious sentiments,” Ramesh said.

He claimed that Lawrence had offered Salman a straightforward solution: to come forward and apologise to the community. According to Ramesh, the actor had not agreed to do so.

Tiger Shroff escapes Mumbai shooting

The remarks followed a shooting incident in Mumbai’s Juhu area on Sunday, when three men on a motorcycle allegedly opened fire at a car linked to Tiger Shroff. The actor escaped unharmed, but his driver was injured, police said.

According to Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police Mohit Garg, three rounds were fired at the 36-year-old actor’s car after he left a playground where he had attended football practice.

The injured driver was taken to Nanavati Hospital for treatment. Other people in the area, including an autorickshaw driver, were also reported to have been hurt.

The gunshots triggered panic at the scene, with people running for cover. Police cordoned off the area, while forensic teams collected evidence.

Three suspects arrested in Kota

Rajasthan Police arrested three suspects, including a minor, at Kota railway station on Monday in connection with the shooting.

Acting on intelligence that the suspects were travelling aboard the Pune-Jaipur Express, a police team surrounded and searched the train. The operation took approximately 15 minutes, after which all three were taken into custody.

The suspects were identified as Rehan, alias Sukka, from Sonipat in Haryana; Hrithik Kurmi, alias Roshan, from Begusarai in Bihar; and a minor.

Hours after the shooting, a video circulated on social media in which a man identifying himself as Anil Pandit and claiming links to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang took responsibility for the firing. The speaker claimed the attack was intended as a warning to Tiger Shroff to stop working with Salman Khan.

The claim in the video does not, by itself, establish who carried out the shooting or the motive behind it.

Salman Khan and the blackbuck case

The Lawrence Bishnoi gang has been linked to threats against Salman Khan over the 1998 blackbuck poaching case in Rajasthan, which dates to the filming of the Hindi film Hum Saath Saath Hain.

Salman was convicted by a trial court in 2018 in connection with the case and challenged the verdict in higher courts. The actor has maintained his innocence.

The latest remarks have renewed attention on the longstanding hostility between the gang and the actor, with the shooting involving Tiger Shroff raising fresh concerns about threats directed at people associated with Salman.

With inputs from IANS