Why this attack by the Bishnoi gang differs from past incidents in the city

Similarly, when the gang got NCP leader Baba Siddique murdered outside his Bandra residence in October 2024, Shubham Lonkar put up a message stating how they had gunned down Siddique as he was linked to Dawood and Salman Khan. It was also said to be a revenge for the death of Anuj Thapan, an accused arrested in the Salman Khan case, who allegedly committed suicide while in police custody. In this case too, no demand for money was made, as per police.

In the social media post in the aftermath of the firing outside Rohit Shetty’s house, the account did not provide any reason. All it said was that Shetty should not “interfere in their work”. It later said, “if in the future he didn’t understand or follow what they had to say they will fire at him”

In a first possible indication that the gang has been making calls to Bollywood personalities, the message warned Bollywood to “improve while there is still time” and that “whoever they have called should come to the phone and speak or they will have nowhere to hide.”

In the chargesheets filed by the Mumbai police in both the Salman Khan and Baba Siddique cases, the motive for these attacks was mentioned as the gang tried to create fear in the city using which they could later carry out extortion.

The Mumbai Police has so far maintained that they have not received any information about the Bishnoi gang making extortion calls to the city. An officer said, “We have not received any complaints from Shetty or any Bollywood actor that they have received extortion calls.”

The spectre of extortion calls has haunted the city when underworld gangs from Dawood to Chhota Rajan would make extortion calls in the past. The past two decades have been a welcome respite with most of these gangsters being neutralised.