Khan has been in the crosshairs of an armed gang since 1998 for shooting two blackbucks during a recreational hunting trip.
Two members of a notorious criminal gang have been arrested for shooting at Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s home, apparently in retaliation for the superstar’s killing of two antelopes decades ago.
The Bishnoi gang, accused of several murders and extortion rackets, hails from a larger desert-based religious sect that views the species as the reincarnation of its guru.
Khan, 58, has been in the group’s crosshairs since 1998 for shooting two blackbucks during a recreational hunting trip.
The jailed gang leader, Lawrence Bishnoi, has threatened Khan with assassination in the past.
Two men on a motorbike fired at Khan’s first-floor apartment in the early hours of Sunday in Mumbai’s upscale Bandra district, also firing several bullets into the air before fleeing.
Khan, who remains guarded by armed police due to death threats, was at home when the shots were fired.
The two men, aged 24 and 21, were arrested on Tuesday in the western state of Gujarat, police said.
“We were able to locate the two accused near a temple,” said Kutch district police officer Mahendra Bagaria. “One of our teams reached the temple and nabbed the accused.”
Members of the Bishnoi community pursued criminal proceedings against Khan for the Blackbuck shootings for 20 years.
Khan was sentenced to five years in prison by a local court for violating the Wildlife Protection Act in 2018.
But the sentence was suspended on appeal just days after Khan was sent to prison, prompting Lawrence Bishnoi to warn soon after that his gang would take the law into their own hands.
The gang leader has been accused of orchestrating several murders, including that of famous Indian rapper Sidhu Moose Wala in 2022.
Khan has starred in nearly 150 films and television shows since his first success in the 1980s and remains one of Bollywood’s most bankable personalities.
But his personal life has long been marred by controversy.
In 2002, he allegedly knocked down five people sleeping on the sidewalk in an upscale Mumbai neighborhood, killing one in a late-night hit-and-run.
He was exonerated, but authorities challenged his acquittal in 2016 and the case remains ongoing.
Gn entert
News Source : www.aljazeera.com
