Salman Khan Death Threat: Songwriter Held Over Threat To Actor; 'Wanted To Make His Song Famous,' Say Police

Salman Khan Death Threat: A budding songwriter was arrested by Mumbai Police on Tuesday for allegedly sending in threat messages aimed at Bollywood actor Salman Khan and demanding Rs 5 crore from him in the name of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, an official said. The arrested individual has been identified as Sohail Pasha.

He was nabbed from Karnataka's Raichur, the police informed. Pasha had written a song and the whole ploy was aimed at bringing the track to limelight, the police claimed. According to news agency PTI, multiple messages received by the WhatsApp helpline of Mumbai traffic police on November 7 had said that the sender was a member of the Bishnoi gang and that Salman Khan would be killed if he refused to pay up Rs 5 crore.

The writer of the song "Main Sikandar Hun" will also be killed, the sender had warned. The mobile number associated with the WhatsApp account was reportedly traced by the crime branch of Mumbai Police to a man named Vyankatesh Narayan in Raichur. Subsequently, a team was dispatched to Karnataka and the owner of the number was interrogated, the official, cited by PTI, informed. However, it was found that Narayan's cell phone did not even have internet facility, the official added.

As per the report, it emerged during the interrogation that Narayan had lent his mobile phone to a stranger, who had approached him at a marketplace on November 3, so that he could make a phone call. The man, however, deceitfully used Narayan's mobile number to obtain an OTP to install WhatsApp on his own mobile, the official said citing the findings of the probe.

The Mumbai Crime Branch team then zeroed in on Pasha at Manavi village near Raichur, PTI said in its report. He turned out to be the writer of the song mentioned in the threat message, the official said. Pasha was handed over to Worli police upon being brought to Mumbai, the official said.

The threat and the subsequent arrest came amid renewed concerns about Khan's safety stemming from the killing of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, who was considered close to the actor. The Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which has been after Khan's life for years now over the famous blackbuck poaching case, has claimed responsibility for the high-profile killing.

(With inputs from agencies)